There was a head-on collision in Craven County that involved three people on Friday. Two of the three victims were seriously injured. The collision happened around lunchtime on Highway 55 near Broad Creek Road.
According to North Carolina State Troopers at the scene of the accident, there was a Pontiac that was traveling in the eastbound lane and crossed the center line. In the process, the car struck an oncoming pickup truck.
The two people in the pickup truck and driver of the car were taken to Pitt County Memorial Hospital where their condition is not known at this time. Troopers say alcohol was not involved.
Head-on collisions are an often fatal type of road traffic accident. U.S. statistics show that in 2005, head-on crashes were only 2.0% of all crashes, yet accounted for 10.1% of US fatal crashes. This over-representation is because the relative velocities of vehicles traveling in opposite directions are high. A head-on crash between two vehicles traveling at 50 mph is comparable to a vehicle traveling at 100 mph striking a stationary vehicle.