By Steve Huffman
Salisbury Post
FAITH ó Three teenagers were pinned in an overturned convertible outside town late Friday, but law enforcement officers said the accident could easily have been worse.
“They’re actually very lucky,” said Trooper T.D. Cato of the N.C. Highway Patrol.
The accident happened shortly before 11 p.m. on Crescent Road, about a half-mile from the intersection with Faith Road.
Cato said the convertible, a Ford Mustang, was traveling west on Crescent Road when it ran off the road, struck a sidewalk and overturned.
Cato said the three teens were pinned in the car and a wrecker had to lift the vehicle so they could be removed. Two of the teens were airlifted from the scene and the third, the driver, was transported by ambulance to Rowan Regional Medical Center.
“Speed was a factor,” Cato said.
But he said all three occupants are apparently going to survive, which is a far better outcome than officers initially worried might be the case.
Cato said he couldn’t identify the teens since their families hadn’t all been notified. He said they apparently worked at the Sonic Drive-In in Rockwell and had taken a friend home.
“They were trying to rush back to work,” Cato said about midnight Friday.
Another trooper, Eric Perdue, was traveling east on Crescent Road and happened upon the accident just moments after it happened.
Steve Craig and his wife, Sarah, live at 1980 Crescent Road and were inside their house when Steve heard the crash. The car came to rest in their neighbor’s yard.
“I could tell it was rolling,” Craig said.
He said he rushed to get a spotlight and told his wife to call 911. Craig then hurried outside to help.
He said the girl in the car’s back seat seemed the most seriously hurt. “She was hysterical,” Craig said.
But he said all of the car’s occupants complained of injuries. He said there was little that rescue workers could do until the wrecker arrived and blocks were put under the car so the occupants could be removed.
Sondra Goodman lives in Carrington East, just west of the scene, and was traveling home shortly after the crash.
“I’ve got children of my own and my first thought was that they could have been involved,” she said.
Goodman said she was relieved to learn that wasn’t the case, but still worried about the young people in the car.
“I’ve seen three come out,” she said as she watched rescue workers at the scene. “I feel sure someone was pinned underneath.”
Contact Steve Huffman at 704-797-4222 or shuffman@salisburypost.com.