Twelve Hospitalized from Two Wrecks in Havelock County, North Carolina

Recently, two wrecks happened around the same time (4 p.m.) front of the Walmart in Havelock County, North Carolina.  One wreck was in the eastbound lanes of U.S. 70 involving a bus collision and the other wreck was in the westbound lanes. As you could imagine, this created at least a 90 minute traffic delay as first responders rushed to the scene to assist with those injured.

As described by the Havelock police officers at the scene, the initial crash was with a N.C. Department of Transportation work bus that was loaded with 26 inmates headed towards the Carteret Correctional Facility in Newport, North Carolina. This wreck occurred when a car stopped and was struck in the rear by another car near the traffic light. The correctional bus with the prisoners subsequently hit the 2nd car.

Although the two collision were quite dramatic in that it took over both lanes of traffic, the drivers of the two cars were still able to drive their vehicles away from the accident scene after giving Havelock police the required information. Although there was no appearant damage to the front end of the bus, 10 inmates were eventually taken off the bus after complaining of injuries. These inmates were then transported to Carteret General Hospital in Morehead City, North Carolina, which required a convoy of ambulances from Havelock, Cherry Point, Newport, Wildwood and Township 7.

The secondary crash happened just minutes after the correction bus wreck when a car ran into an SUV at the same location. In fact, it was just across the street of the bus wreck.  It was reported that two women in the car, described as a gray Ford, were ambulanced to the hospital, but the people in the SUV suffered no injuries from the two car collision. Although it is not currently known what exact injuries the two women have suffered, but the front of their car was significantly damaged.

Whiplash symptoms reported by sufferers include: pain and aching to the neck and back, referred pain to the shoulders, sensory disturbance (such as pins and needles) to the arms & legs and headaches. Symptoms can appear directly after the injury, but often are not felt until days afterward. Whiplash is usually confined to the spinal cord, and the most common areas of the spinal cord affected by whiplash are the neck, and the mid-back (middle of the spine).

Whiplash may be caused by any motion similar to a rear-end collision in a motor vehicle, such as may take place on a roller coaster or other rides at an amusement park, sports injuries such as skiing accidents, other modes of transportation such as airplane travel, or from being hit, kicked or shaken.