Staff report
Three people involved in separate wrecks Monday were airlifted to Carolinas Medical Center with life-threatening injuries.
The injured include a motorcycle rider who police say was going 100 mph on Sherrills Ford Road; a China Grove woman with her 9-month-old grandson in the car who was T-boned by a truck; and 47-year-old man riding his bicycle against traffic on South Main Street.
Jeffrey Scott Kowalski, of 260 North Oakhurst Drive, sustained massive injuries when his bicycle collided with a 2001 Dodge Ram truck operated by Travis Andrew Yost, 20, of 1162 Gracebrook Drive.
Salisbury Police Sgt. K.C. Winburn said Kowalski was riding his bike north on U.S. 29 in the southbound lane.
The accident occurred shortly before 7 p.m. when the bike collided with the right front corner of the truck, sending Kowalski into the windshield and then off onto the side of the road.
Winburn said Kowalski was not conscious at the scene. Kowalski was transported to Rowan Regional Medical Center and then airlifted to Carolinas Medical Center.
No information was available on his condition late Monday night.
Winburn said Kowalski was on his way to work.
“Bikers need to ride with the traffic,” Winburn said.
Motorcycle wreck
In an accident shortly before noon, a 24-year-old Salisbury man was critically injured when he drove his motorcycle at an estimated 100 mph into the back of a car hauler on Sherrills Ford Road.
David Shores, of 555 Neel Road, was airlifted to Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte following the 11:35 a.m. accident.
Shores was listed in critical condition at the hospital Monday night.
According to the N.C. Highway Patrol, Shores was operating a 2007 Honda street bike headed west on Sherrills Ford Road near Davis Enterprises.
Trooper A.J. Carpenter said Shores crested the top of a hill and ran into the back of an empty car trailer being pulled by a 2006 Ford 250 driven by Joshua Coughenour, 23, of 540 Centenary Church Road.
Carpenter said the motorcycle and driver went over the trailer gate, then across the trailer before crashing into the back glass of the truck.
Carpenter said a deputy sheriff going east on Sherrills Ford Road spotted the motorcyclist seconds before the wreck.
Locke Volunteer Fire Department assisted at the scene and also set up a landing zone at Salem Lutheran Church.
China Grove crash
Shortly after noon, three people were injured in a two-vehicle wreck at the intersection of U.S. 29 and North Main Street in China Grove ó an intersection where police say accidents are a common occurrence.
Marilyn C. Moore, 56, of 2070 N. Main St. was listed in fair condition Monday night at Carolinas Medical Center.
Moore was driving a 2003 Chevrolet Malibu north on North Main Street at 12:05 p.m. when she turned left at the intersection going north on U.S. 29.
According to a China Grove Police Department report, Moore’s car was struck in the driver’s side by a 2007 Toyota Tundra pickup driven by Donald F. Goodson, 62, of 605 Hickory Nut Lane.
The pickup, traveling south, T-boned the Moore vehicle on the driver’s side.
Moore and her 9-month-old grandson, Curtis Eugene Walters, were taken by Rowan EMS to Rowan Regional Medical Center for treatment.
The child was treated and released.
Moore was airlifted from Rowan Regional to CMC around 3:30 p.m. Monday and was in critical condition at that time, a hospital spokesman said.
Goodson was transported to NorthEast Medical Center, where he was treated and released.
According to the report of Officer S.A. Wood, both Moore and Goodson said they had the green light at the intersection.
A witness told police the light was red on U.S. 29 for all but the turn lane.
Chief Hodge Coffield said police do not plan to charge Goodson but will indicate he was a contributing factor to the accident.
Coffield said accidents of this type have become a common occurrence at the intersection.