Injury avoided in wreck that closes Viola Highway for hour

According to Highway Patrol reports, the accident occurred at 9:25 p.m. as Thomas Rucker Graves Jr., of Otto, N.C., was preparing to drive onto the bridge in his 1997 Dodge Caravan. The bridge has traffic signals on each end because motorists in both directions are forced to share one lane due to construction.

When it came time for the Graves vehicle to merge into the other lane, he simply didn’t merge enough and his Caravan hit an accordion-like barrier at the end of the guardrail meant to absorb impact.

While Graves wasn’t hurt, his vehicle was damaged badly enough that he couldn’t drive it. Thus, it took around an hour for a wrecker to arrive, clear the damage, and reopen the road.