By Seth Leonard
sleonard@salisburypost.com
Two vehicles collided in front of Salisbury Motor Co. around 8:30 this morning, the second accident at that intersection in less than a month.
A four-by-four Ford F-150 pickup truck was towing a trailer west on Innes Street when it ran into a Pontiac G6 sedan at the intersection with Craige Street, crushing the passenger side of the car.
The Pontiac driver, Norma Peeler, 54, was pinned in for nearly 40 minutes and suffered a broken pelvis. Salisbury Fire Department responders had to cut the woman free with tools that peeled back plastic and sheet metal. She was trapped between the dashboard, a telephone pole and the other side of the car, which was crumpled inward all the way to the driverís side.
An ambulance took her to the hospital when helicopters were unavailable due to weather conditions.
The driver of the truck appeared uninjured, and the damage to his vehicle looked to be mostly scratches and dings. He was towing a trailer loaded with landscaping equipment belonging to Ketnerís Lawn Service, according to authorities.
One witness, who was driving behind the truck, explained that she saw him run through the red light.
ěHe ran the stop light,î she said. ěHe didnít brake or anything. He plowed right into that woman.î
The witness did not want to give her full name because she did not want to jeopardize the impending investigation.
pPeeler works at Salisbury Motor Co. and was on her way to work when the accident occurred. According to the dealershipís general manager, Donald Clement IV, she had called to complain a few weeks earlier about limited visibility at the intersection.
Clement said that the intersection is indeed dangerous, thanks in part to the speed limit.
ěSpeed limit is 35, so you know they’re going 45,î he said. Peeler, the driver of the Pontiac, had recently bought it from the dealership.
Clement said that recent crashes at the site arenít isolated incidents.
He explained that several of the dealershipís cars have been hit and even totalled over the years. He also indicated that one telephone pole at the intersection has been hit multiple times. He blames the poleís proximity to the curb, and says that most poles on that stretch of Innes Street are too close to the street.