Five hurt in Big Island car wreck

By Dave Thompson

Published: September 5, 2008

Five people were hospitalized Friday afternoon after a car traveling in the wrong lane on Virginia 122 collided head-on with one car, sending another down a 30-foot embankment.

Trooper Joseph Edgell, with the Virginia State Police, said at about 3:15 p.m., a 17-year-old driver in a 1996 Nissan Maxima was traveling south in the northbound lane of Virginia 122, near Big Island.

To escape a collision, Valerie Spinner, 46, jerked her steering wheel hard to the right, and was still grazed by the Maxima.

Her 2006 Nissan Altima ran off the road and rolled down a 30-foot embankment.

The driver behind her, 18-year-old Stephanie Carter, driving a 2001 Dodge Neon, was not able to swerve in time, and the Maxima hit her car head-on.

Spinner was flown by helicopter to Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital.

Edgell said Spinner was conscious at the time, and did not believe her injuries were life threatening.

Her 17-year-old son, Carter and the two juvenile occupants of the Maxima were taken to Bedford Memorial Hospital with various injuries, none of them life threatening, Edgell said.

Everyone involved, except for the two occupants of the Maxima, was wearing a seatbelt.

Edgell said Spinner’s belt probably saved her life, and Carter’s airbags likely did the same for her.

The driver of the Maxima was charged with reckless driving.

Edgell said there were no other charges as of Friday night, but the investigation is continuing.