Rockwell man killed in crash on Old Beatty Ford Road

By Steve Huffman

shuffman@salisburypost.com

BOSTIAN HEIGHTS — A man thrown from a car in a Saturday evening wreck on Old Beatty Ford Road died.

Mark McKibben, 39, of Rockwell, was pronounced dead at Carolinas Medical Center-NorthEast at 8:35 p.m. Saturday, according to Trooper M.T. Eason of the N.C. Highway Patrol.

The accident, which occurred a little more than a mile east of Old Beatty Ford's intersection with Old Concord Road, was reported at 7:27 p.m.

The 2002 Toyota Camry in which McKibben was riding was heading west on Old Beatty Ford Road when it ran off the right side of the road. The driver over-corrected, Eason said, the car crossing the center line and flipping before coming to rest on the left side of the highway.

Eason said excessive speed did not appear to be a factor. Nor was alcohol involved, he said.

Eason said he's still working to determine if McKibben was the car's driver. Also in the car was McKibben's fiance, Amy McCommons, 28, of Kannapolis, and her two children, ages 4 and 8.

McCommons was in good condition Sunday at Carolinas Medical Center-NorthEast. The children weren't injured.

Eason said everyone in the car except McKibben was wearing a seat belt.

"We know he was ejected," Eason said of McKibben. "As to who was the driver, we're still not sure."

Eason said he asked McCommons who was driving. "She recalls nothing of the accident," he said.

The car plowed into a chain-link fence at Robert Ashby's house in the 6900 block of Old Beatty Ford Road. McKibben was thrown several feet west of the car.

The road was closed for a couple of hours as a result of the accident.

Ashby said traffic along the road is a constant headache for those who live in the area.

"I've been trying for 20 years to get 'em to cut the speed limit and enforce it," Ashby said. "It's 55 (mph) and it ought to be 35 (mph)."