BUCKHANNON – A Buckhannon woman was transported to Stonewall Jackson Memorial Hospital with possible injuries Tuesday following a two-vehicle collision involving a log truck.
The collision occurred at 1:53 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 29, on Route 20 in front of Lowe’s. According to the crash report filed with the Buckhannon Police Department by Patrolman First Class Angel McCauley, two fire stations were dispatched to a two-vehicle motor vehicle crash involving a log truck and an SUV.
Upon arrival, first responders found the vehicle of 74-year-old Nancy McCartney, a 2022 white GMC SUV, positioned diagonally across the lanes and into oncoming traffic. Kenneth Hall, 51, of Morgantown, had been driving an orange 2016 KW W900 log truck south on Route 20 and had to veer to the right to get out of McCartney’s way. However, according to the report, McCartney, who was traveling north, allegedly hit Hall head-on.
McCartney was transported to Stonewall Jackson Memorial Hospital by Upshur EMS with possible injuries, but Hall said he was uninjured and declined medical transport.
According to the report, Hall said he was on his way back to Weyerhaeuser when he saw a woman in a white SUV driving erratically, crossing back and forth across the double yellow line. Hall’s statement says McCartney drove directly into his lane and struck him head-on. Hall then reportedly swerved to the right, maneuvering his vehicle as close to the guardrail as possible as he slowed to stop at a stop light.
According to Hall’s statement, McCartney had been traveling at a speed of 50-55 mph or possibly faster.
A witness told police they saw the white SUV leave the Lowe’s parking lot and then turn toward the log truck instead of the lane in which she should have been driving. According to the witness, the log truck started to move toward Lowe’s with his brakes on, but McCartney kept driving. The witness told police, “She was going fast, she would have hit him head-on if he hadn’t swerved.”
McCartney was cited for reckless driving; driving to endanger; negligent driving; failure to maintain control of a vehicle; and lane violation.
