ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, January 23, 1997 TAG: 9701230033
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG
Brake failure may have led to a two-vehicle accident on Prices Fork Road Tuesday afternoon that sent four people to the hospital.
Trooper Frank Lotts said Wednesday he suspected brake failure when he noticed there were no skid marks at the accident scene.
Curtis Bowers, 43, of Radford, was driving a truck north on Prices Fork when a car in front of him attempted to turn right into a driveway.
Mark Rorrer, a Montgomery County resident, never made it up his gravel drive because Bowers' pickup hit the passenger side of his car. The truck then ran head-on into a rock embankment.
Lotts said there were no skid marks at the accident scene - which would have pointed to Bowers' attempt to avoid the collision. When Lotts attempted to test the truck's brakes immediately following the accident, it appeared they were not working, he said. Further investigation would be needed to decide if the brakes on the 1996 truck were working before the accident, he said.
LifeGuard 10 flew Bowers and his son, Keith, to Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital. Hospital officials said Curtis Bowers and his son were both listed in stable condition as of Wednesday afternoon. Keith Bowers' age was not immediately available, Lotts said.
Bowers' 17-year-old daughter, Lisa, was taken to Carilion Radford Community Hospital and was listed in good condition Wednesday, according to a hospital spokeswoman.
Rorrer was treated and released from Columbia Montgomery Regional Hospital Tuesday.
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