BUCKHANNON – Two people were injured – one seriously – in a two-vehicle wreck at the intersection of Kesling Mill Road and U.S. Route 33 late Thursday morning.
The accident happened just after 11 a.m. when a red Dodge Intrepid being driven by Debra Davis, 70, of Hico, West Virginia, was traveling eastbound on Route 33, and a GMC pickup truck being driven by George Smith, 77, of Buckhannon, tried to cross four lanes of traffic from the Kesling Mill Road to get to Route 151, the old Elkins Road.
Investigating officer Cpl. T.A. Menendez with the Buckhannon detachment of the West Virginia State Police said Smith crossed the westbound lane of Route 33, stopped in the median and was attempting to cross the eastbound lanes but did not see Davis and a female passenger traveling eastbound.
“He failed to see Ms. Davis, and basically pulled out right into the driver’s side of the Dodge Intrepid,” Menendez said Thursday afternoon.
Menendez said the Dodge Intrepid spun around several times before coming to rest facing eastbound against the guardrail. Upshur EMS transported both Davis and her passenger to St. Joseph’s Hospital, and Davis was later transferred to Ruby Memorial Hospital in Morgantown with a serious injury.
The incident is still being investigated, and Menendez said he found Smith at fault. Smith was not injured in the wreck.
The wreck came less than one day after My Buckhannon first reported that West Virginia Department of Highways will install stoplights at both the Kesling Mill and Childers Run intersections on Route 33 next year. Read about the decision to install traffic signals at the notoriously dangerous intersections by clicking here.
