ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, May 3, 1996 TAG: 9605030077
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CHRISTOPHER RICKETT STAFF WRITER
Two teen-agers riding in the back of a pickup truck in Montgomery County were injured, one of them critically, when the vehicle skidded off a gravel road and hit two trees Thursday night.
State Trooper C.L. Mumpower said four 17-year-old boys, at least three of whom are from Blacksburg, were driving along a gravel section of Yellow Sulphur Road halfway between Blacksburg and Christiansburg when the truck hit a bump, prompting the driver to hit his brakes.
The two teens who were riding in the bed of the truck were thrown clear after the truck struck a tree, a fence and a second tree. The two boys in the cab were uninjured, Mumpower said.
The two injured teens were flown to Roanoke Memorial Hospital, where one was listed in critical condition and the other in satisfactory condition late Thursday, according to a nursing supervisor.
The boys were not identified because they are juveniles.
Mumpower said an emergency response worker at the scene of the accident noted that one of the boys had severe head injuries.
The speed limit on the stretch of road where the accident occurred is 55 mph, Mumpower said, though he indicated the truck was probably traveling below that limit.
He also noted that the driver has had a license for only one month and inexperience may have contributed to the accident.
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