A violent crash on Halloween night ended with a couple of miracles in Asheboro, North Carolina.
A SUV barreling through a 35-mph zone at 70 miles per hour slammed into the back of a car parked at the side of Old Castle Drive just after 8 o’clock, according to the police accident report. That parked car was rammed forward into a light truck parked just in front of it.
Four people were in the parked vehicles. All four were transported to Randolph Hospital. Details on the injuries weren’t available, but here’s Miracle No. 1: All four were treated and “eventually released” sometime before noon the next day, police said. (Not to make light of the phrase “treated and released,” which I will mention later.)
Image / Google Maps
The crash took place on Old Castle Drive near Buckhorn Road in north Asheboro, N.C. sometime between 8 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. Six people – possibly all children – had just left the two parked vehicles when the cars were hit.
Miracle No. 2: Six people – I don’t know their ages, but police statements imply that at least some were children – had just gotten out of the two vehicles before the crash to go trick-or-treating.
I’ll admit it – I do believe in magic, though I attribute it to a power greater than spells or sorcery.
As I discussed in a blog on Halloween morning, adults should take care to keep their children safe on Halloween night. As news reports said, the parked cars had their lights on. But an evil mixture that can thwart the best of precautions is the combination of alcohol and driving.
The 2001 Mitsubishi SUV that caused the crash was driven by Michael Aaron Jenkins, 21, of 1843 Hickory Wood Lane, Randleman, police said. Jenkins was charged with driving while impaired. Other charges: driving while license revoked, careless and reckless driving, and failure to reduce speed to avoid an accident.
The vehicle was seized because Jenkins’ license was suspended for a prior DWI in 2008. Damage to the car, which is owned by Susan Ann Farnsworth of 113 Sunset Drive, Randleman, was estimated at $6,500. Jenkins refused medical attention and was allowed to sign a $2,000 unsecured bond.
The first car that was hit, a 2008 Nissan passenger vehicle, received $4,000 in damage; the truck, a 1995 Nissan, received $500 in damage.
“We are extremely fortunate that this crash didn’t turn out any worse than it did," said police Captain Jim Smith in a news release. He described the chain-reaction wreck as a “near miss” that could have had tragic outcome for the trick-or-treating children.
As it was, the outcome was bad enough for the people left waiting in the cars that were hit. I think “treated and released” has come to be interpreted as “came away with a few bumps and bruises,” at least in the minds of some people. All the injured victims involved should get examined by their doctors as soon as possible, and monitor their physical well-being well into the future. Symptoms of injuries can appear weeks after an accident has occurred.
And yes, there are many names for things we don’t understand. Call it fate, call it luck, call it magic, or call it divine intervention – it was a miracle that no one was hurt more severely, or killed, this Halloween night.
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