A car traveling at the speed limit crashed into an electric pole shortly before 8 a.m. on Wednesday. The speed limit at the site of the accident in downtown Cameron on Carthage Street is 25 mph.
The pole was splintered at one angle at the point of impact with the front of the car at about two-feet high. The pole was fractured at a different angle at approximately twenty-feet up, from counterbalancing the pole’s transformer.
Duke Energy was alerted to the damaged pole.
Traffic was delayed in downtown Cameron as repairs were completed.
Highway Patrolman Troy McDaniel said speed was not a factor, and there were no skid marks suggesting brake use.
“It was probably a medical issue,” McDaniel said.
The single passenger did not accept an ambulance ride to the hospital for further evaluation.
Cameron’s Town Manager Wendy Butner and Herald Dowdy, who performs maintenance for the town, were outdoors at the time of impact.
“Mr. Dowdy and I were getting ready to hang Christmas lights. We heard it. Mrs. Lieby [Carthage Street resident] said she didn’t know I could run that fast,” Butner said about running to Town Hall to call 911.
Moore County sheriff deputies, paramedics and fire departments responded to the call that said the driver was trapped in the car.
“The driver’s door may have been locked, and the first responder couldn’t get in,” McDaniel said about the idea the driver was trapped.
According to Duke Energy, 129 customers are currently without power in the Cameron area.
~Article and photo by Sandhills Sentinel Journalist Stephanie M. Sellers. Contact her at [email protected].
