Truck crash kills man on Umberger Road; Winston-Salem police officer dies in separate accident

By Steve Huffman

shuffman@salisburypost.com

MOUNT ULLA — A motorist was killed in a single-vehicle accident late Saturday afternoon near Umberger Road's intersection with Ketchie Road.

Daniel Brooks, 47, of Thomas Lane, Cleveland, died instantly in the crash.

The entire length of Umberger Road — from Sherrills Ford Road to Amity Hill Road — was closed for a couple of hours after the accident.

According to the N.C. Highway Patrol, Brooks was driving a 2008 Ford pickup west on Umberger Road. The truck ran off the road to the right in a curve and Brooks overcompensated, with his vehicle crossing the center line and running off the road to the left.

After Brooks' truck ran off the road, it went down an embankment and hit a ditch before overturning.

Highway Patrol Trooper M.T. Eason said excessive speed doesn't appear a factor. "He just over-corrected the steering," Eason said.

Brooks was the truck's lone occupant.

The road is narrow and winding, but John Steele, deputy chief of the West Rowan Fire Department and the first emergency responder to arrive, said there aren't an inordinate number of accidents along the stretch.

"As narrow as it is, you'd think we'd have a lot more," Steele said.

The weather was clear at the time of the accident.

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Another fatal traffic accident took place about 12:30 p.m. Saturday in Davie County near the Rowan County line.

Robert M. Staley, 38, an officer with the Winston-Salem Police Department, was on a motorcycle that struck a pickup truck that pulled in front of him, according to the Highway Patrol.

The accident happened on U.S. 601, about 4 miles south of Cooleemee. Staley had been an officer with the Winston-Salem Police since Sept. 21, 1998, and was scheduled for a military deployment, according to the department.