An 18-year-old man stood on a bridge covered in about an inch of slick, icy slush as he watched a pair of tow truck drivers fish his car out of the Jacobs Fork River on Friday morning.
Members of his family stood alongside him and watched as a rainbow-colored oil slick covered the surface of the water some 20 feet below them. The blue Mercury was upside down in the water.
Daniel Milliam, 18, was at the wheel on Greedy Highway headed east toward N.C. 127 when he hit a slick patch of pavement, ran off the right side of the road, careened down the steep bank and flipped upside down into the river, said Investigating Trooper K.E. Travis.
Milliam and his passenger, Shawn Presnell, 34, were able to get out of the car and walk back to their home about a quarter mile down the road, Travis said. When they got to the house at about 9:50 a.m., they reported the accident.
Presnell was later transported to Catawba Valley Medical Center with non-life threatening injuries.
"He was just banged up a little," Travis said.
He estimated that Milliam was going about 45 to 50 miles per hour when he lost control of his car. The trooper said he will be cited for exceeding a safe speed for road conditions.
Milliam's brother, Tony, said Milliam was on his way to the grocery store to buy some milk and supplies to ride out the snow and ice predicted for the weekend.
Milliam appeared shaken up, and declined to comment.
Travis said he was surprised Milliam and Presnell were able to walk away from the crash. He said Milliam's phone was submerged in the river and he walked to his home to notify law enforcement immediately. He will not be charged with leaving the scene of an accident.
According to AccuWeather, snow should taper off sometime Saturday afternoon, with accumulations around six inches. The high is expected to be 38 degrees.
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