THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, July 28, 1994 TAG: 9407280533
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY MARGARET TALEV, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: OREGON INLET LENGTH: Medium: 72 lines
Three people were injured Wednesday when a teenager fainted while driving across the Oregon Inlet Bridge and his car struck an oncoming vehicle, jumped a railing and dangled over the side of the 65-foot-high span.
The 16-year-old driver, Matt Beacham of Kitty Hawk, was headed north at 1:45 p.m. with two friends and a carload of surfboards when the accident occurred, state trooper Dana Harris said.
Injured were Beacham's two passengers, Nicholas Thornhill, 18, and a 14-year-old boy, both of Kill Devil Hills; and a minister, Rhondal L. Midgett of Wanchese, a passenger in the car hit by Beacham's 1991 red Ford Escort stationwagon.
The 14-year-old was airlifted to the emergency room of Sentara Norfolk General Hospital, hospital spokeswoman Brooke Oldham said. At 10 p.m. Wednesday, his condition was listed as stable.
The others were treated for minor injuries at the Outer Banks Medical Center and released, Harris said.
Neither Beacham nor Midgett's wife, Connie, the driver of the other car, was injured.
From the Outer Banks Medical Center where he was taken for tests, Beacham said he's not really sure why he fainted. The 14-year-old friend riding with him ``was fooling around in the back seat and hit me on the shoulder on the bone,'' he said.
``I remember saying, `I'm gonna faint' and I passed out. Next thing, I'm looking up and everybody's trying to rip me out of the car.''
He said he saw the 14-year-old ``leaning over the seat, bloody. Blood was everywhere.''
Thornhill, the other passenger, told police that as Beacham fainted, the car swerved and hit the northbound railing. According to police, the 14-year-old tried but failed to jerk the car back onto the road. It swerved, crossed the centerline and struck the Midgetts' car.
Police said when Connie Midgett first saw the out-of-control car, she put on the brakes and finally came to a stop. After Beacham's car hit hers, the back end of the Escort jumped the 4-foot-high southbound guardrail and hung over the edge.
Beacham was charged with a moving violation for crossing the center line. No other charges are pending, Trooper Harris said. Police said everyone but the 14-year-old was wearing a seatbelt at the time of the accident. Harris also said alcohol was not involved.
After the accident, authorities closed the bridge twice. The closings caused a 2-mile backup on the southbound lane of N.C. 12 leading to the bridge.
A witness, Elizabeth Griffin of Virginia Beach, said she and her husband, Al, were about to head back to their summer home in Kill Devil Hills after a day of inlet fishing when she, ``heard tires squealing and the red car came up in the air.''
``How it ended up on the other side of the bridge I don't know,'' she said. Her husband called 911 from his cellular phone. ``I had goose bumps the whole time I was watching it,'' Elizabeth Griffin said.
Beacham said he didn't know whether his friend's punches caused him to faint. ``I just hope he's all right,'' he said.
Midgett said later that he was on the way to a funeral when the accident occurred.
``Ironic, isn't it?'' MEMO: Staff writer Lane DeGregory contributed to this report. ILLUSTRATION: Photo by DREW C. WILSON, Staff
A car driven by a teenager who fainted teeters on the edge of the
Bonner Bridge over Oregon Inlet on Wednesday. The auto hit another
vehicle before careening into the guard rail.
by CNB