The Kill Devil Hills Police Department has reported a collision between a tractor-trailer truck and a 2003 Toyota pickup that occurred Monday afternoon, April 17, 2023 at around 1:55 p.m. in the area of U.S. 158 and Raleigh Avenue, just south of the entrance to the Wright Brothers Memorial. The wreck caused highway traffic to be shut down or restricted for approximately two hours, according to KDHPD.

Units from the Kill Devil Hills Police Department, Kill Devil Hills Fire Department and Dare County EMS responded to the scene.

“The investigation into the cause of the wreck determined that the Barnhill tractor-trailer ‘lowboy’ was traveling south on US 158 in the inside lane, towing a trailer carrying an excavator. The driver of the Toyota was traveling south in the outside lane and attempted to merge into the lane occupied by the Barnhill truck,” stated a KDHPD press release. “The collision resulted in both vehicles crossing US 158, traversing the northbound lanes (where miraculously they did not encounter northbound traffic), and leaving the roadway. The vehicles collided with a power pole where the Toyota, turned on its side by this point, was pinned between the power pole and the Barnhill truck. The driver of the Toyota had to be extricated and both drivers were transported to Outer Banks Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.”

According to KDHPD, environmental factors did not appear to play a role in the collision and recent road construction in that area was complete. No lane closures, cones or other traffic control devices were present in the area of the wreck.

The driver of the Toyota, a 20-year-old resident of Nags Head, was cited for unsafe lane change. The driver of the tractor trailer was a 51-year-old resident of Roper.

Northbound lanes were closed for approximately two hours while rescue and collision reconstruction efforts were underway.

“The Kill Devil Hills Police Department would like to thank the Dare County Sheriff’s Office, Nags Head PD and the NC State Highway Patrol for their assistance at the scene with traffic control and, of course, the telecommunicators at Dare Central who help it all run smoothly,” stated the release.

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