Impaired Driver Kills 1, Injures Dozens in North Carolina Bike Group Crash

POLICY WIRE — Wake County, N.C. — One person lost their life and approximately a dozen others sustained injuries when a driver suspected of impairment collided with a large group of cyclists in North Carolina on Saturday morning, according to local authorities.

Preliminary investigation details from the North Carolina State Highway Patrol indicate the incident occurred shortly after 9:30 a.m. Eastern time. A black Infiniti was traveling westbound when the vehicle crossed the center line, striking a group of more than forty cyclists moving eastbound.

Despite the collision, the driver did not halt at the scene. Instead, the vehicle continued for roughly half a mile before the driver lost control and crashed into a ditch beside the road.

Holly Springs Fire Chief LeRoy Smith provided initial casualty figures, stating that seven individuals suffered major injuries requiring hospital transport, while fifteen others received minor injuries. However, the state highway patrol assessed the total number of injured parties to be about a dozen.

Authorities identified the deceased victim as Patrick Allen Turner, a 63-year-old resident of Cary, North Carolina.

Police arrested the suspected driver, 76-year-old Donald Robert Morris-Jones, a resident of Apex, North Carolina. Officials charged him with multiple offenses, including felony death by vehicle, felony serious injury by vehicle, felony hit-and-run involving serious injury or death, reckless driving, and driving while impaired.

Morris-Jones is currently being held on a $1 million bond.

Witnesses present at the scene informed Fire Chief Smith that the victims were participating in a regularly scheduled weekend bike ride.

The crash occurred in Wake County, a jurisdiction situated approximately 14 miles southwest of Raleigh.

Reporting by Policy-Wire (PW)