OBX tractor-trailer wreck sends two to the hospital

KILL DEVIL HILLS, N.C. (WITN) - A wreck between a tractor-trailer and a Toyota on the Outer Banks sent two people to the hospital Monday.

Kill Devil Hills Police say the wreck happened just before 2:00 p.m. Monday on US 158 near the entrance to the Wright Brothers National Memorial.

According to police, a Toyota pick-up truck tried to merge into the inside lane on US 158 South when it hit a semi-truck pulling a flat-bed “low-boy” style trailer carrying an excavator that was already in that lane.

After the collision, both trucks went across the northbound lanes of traffic where they hit a power pole off of the roadway. The Toyota ended up pinned sideways between the power pole and the semi-truck, pinning the driver of the Toyota inside.

Police say the driver of the Toyota had to be extricated and both drivers were transported to Outer Banks Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. Traffic on US 158 was shut down for about two hours while crews worked to clear the wreck.

The driver of the Toyota, a 20-year-old from Nags Head, was charged for an unsafe lane change.