No one was seriously injured in a series of wrecks involving seven vehicles that shut down N.C. 105 South for two hours Thursday morning, according to Trooper Michael Goldsmith of the N.C. Highway Patrol.
Snow and ice coating the road caused the chain reaction on a downhill section of the highway near Smoketree Lodge just before 7 a.m. despite clear roads elsewhere in the county.
By the end of the incident, a blue Dodge Ram had careened down an embankment, a silver Ford Focus had struck a guardrail, a white Saturn Vue had rear-ended a white Jeep Cherokee and a Coors Light 18-wheeler had struck the back of a yellow Ford Escape, Goldsmith said. A Ford Ranger also was involved in the Saturn-Jeep collision but didn't incur enough damage to be considered reportable, he said.
All the accidents occurred at about the same time, as vehicles tried to slow after the blue Dodge Ram ran off the road, he said. All were traveling north toward Boone.
Despite the severity of the accident, Goldsmith recorded no injuries.
According to Highway Patrol reports, the drivers of the vehicles were:
— Charles Joyner (18-wheeler)
— April Carpenter (Ford Escape)
— Melissa Bishop (Saturn Vue)
— Benjamin Rodriguez (Jeep Cherokee)
— James Turbyfill (Dodge Ram)
— James Tester (Ford Focus)
Turbyfill was cited for driving left of center, and Bishop was cited for exceeding safe speed, Goldsmith said.
The Foscoe Volunteer Fire Department and Seven Devils Public Safety Department also responded to the accident. Troopers couldn't even get to the scene until the N.C. Department of Transportation responded to apply salt to the road, Goldsmith said.
Traffic was halted in both directions and had backed up heavily by the time the road reopened at 9 a.m.