Two wrecks on Interstate 77 have claimed two lives this week.
The first occurred Tuesday evening in Surry County, while the second one took place in Yadkin County, but the victim was declared dead at Hugh-Chatham Memorial Hospital in Elkin.
John Shelton, Surry County EMS director as well as the county medical examiner, said the one on Tuesday took place in the southbound lane of the interstate near the 91-mile marker shortly before 10 p.m, when a tractor-trailer ran over a moped and its driver.
In that incident, Shelton said Todd Gillespie, 50, of Red Brush Road, was the moped operator who was killed. However, Shelton said Gillespie may have already been struck by another vehicle or had some other issue, since both he and the moped were already down on the asphalt when the truck ran over them.
“That is still under investigation,” Shelton said. Among the questions law enforcement is attempting to answer is why Gillespie was on the interstate — it is illegal for mopeds to be on the highway after dark.
“The two vehicles would be going at such different speeds…the overtake speed would be incredible, especially at that time of night when it would be difficult to see,” he said.
The second I-77 fatality took place in Yadkin County, though Shelton said he had less information on that incident. He was called in because the victim was taken to Hugh-Chatham in Elkin.
In that case, which occurred Wednesday, he said a vehicle ran under the back trailer portion of a tractor-trailer. He said Thursday morning not all of the victim’s relatives had been notified, so he was not able to release any additional information.
Source: https://www.mtairynews.com