County DOT ‘rocks’
Published 8:52 pm Tuesday, March 4, 2014
Beaufort County roads were a lot icy and a little dicey Monday night into Tuesday, as local drivers experienced yet another round of winter weather. It was the fourth Tuesday of 2014 that drivers were warned to stay off the roads due to snow, sleet, freezing rain or a mixture of all three.
While many travelers experienced spinning wheels and bit of slip and slide on the roadways, once again, Beaufort County got off lightly as there were few accidents and no injuries involved, according to officials.
First Sgt. Brandon Craft, with the North Carolina State Highway Patrol, said there were eight accidents attributed to the weather as of 4 p.m. Tuesday.
“There were eight in all, but only five were reportable wrecks,” Craft said. “Every one of them was property damage only.”
The other three accidents recorded by the Highway Patrol were incidents in which a driver slid off the road, the vehicle was not damaged and was easily pulled back onto the road, he said.
Washington Police and Fire Services Director Stacy Drakeford said another three accidents occurred within Washington city limits.
“There were no major accidents,” Drakeford said. “Nobody was injured in them.”
While Craft said he found the winter storm warning Sunday a little surprising, he attributed Beaufort County’s comparatively low accident numbers to schools dismissing early for the day Monday, local media getting the word out about the impending storm and Beaufort County’s NCDOT office getting the major roads drivable as quickly as possible.
“I heard it again this morning: you go across Tranter’s Creek bridge and it’s a sheet of ice on the other side, asphalt on our side,” Craft said. “Beaufort County DOT rocks.”