CHARLOTTE, N.C. (WBTV) – The National Transportation Safety Board on Thursday released a preliminary report of a crash on I-485 that killed six people in late July.
The National Transportation Safety Board on Thursday, Aug. 14, released their findings of the deadly crash that left six people dead, including a baby and a toddler, on July 26.
The safety board, also referred to as the NTSB, announced in late July that it was investigating the crash in coordination with highway patrol.
The preliminary report found that at around 11 a.m. on Saturday, July 26, a Honda CR-V was driving south in the middle lane of the outer loop of I-485. The Honda was approximately 115 feet north of Dixie River Road overpass in Charlotte, the report reads.
At the same time, a Chrysler Town and Country minivan was also driving southbound on I-485 in the right lane near the CR-V, officials said.
A tractor-trailer towing a refrigerated van semi trailer was reportedly parked on the right shoulder of the interstate.
Both the CR-V and minivan were approaching the tractor-trailer around the time of the crash, according to the National Transportation Safety Board.
For “unknown reasons” the sides of the CR-V and minivan collided, the report reads. The North Carolina State Highway Patrol previously said that the CR-V traveled into the right lane and collided with the minivan.
The collision made the CR-V rotate clockwise, and the minivan was redirected to the right, the report said. Both of the vehicles then traveled down the ride shoulder.
The CR-V collided with the rear and left side of the semi trailer. The driver, identified as 16-year-old Logan Sauer, was the only person in the vehicle. He was pronounced dead.
The minivan hit the back of the semi trailer in what’s known as an underride crash. Five people in the minivan were killed in the crash: 1-year-old Brynlon Holmes; 3-year-old Addyson Holmes; 8-year-old Kamron Wood; 23-year-old Taylor Willis; and 27-year-old Samuel Holmes.
A 16-year-old girl who was riding in the minivan survived the crash.
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The five people in the minivan that were killed were expecting a fun Saturday as they were headed to Carowinds, according to relatives.
The grandfather of those were killed had just taken his grandson Kamron Wood to a Lamborghini dealer just one day before the crash, because the boy loved cars.
“I hate this. I hate it. It’s just like a big dream to me,” Wood Sr. said through tears. “We came back home Saturday night and it was hard to go in the house, because all of them live with us.”
A family friend started an online donation page for the Wood family to help cover funeral expenses.
The North Carolina State Highway Patrol along with Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police and the Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Office coordinated enforcement projects for their new campaign called “Interstate 485 Alive.”
The campaign is aimed at promoting safety and changing driver behavior.
“The goal is that we’re seen, we’re present, we’re visible and that’s all it takes, maybe, for the public to look at their driving habits,” Sgt. Chris Knox, with the North Carolina State Highway Patrol, said. “There are also conversations we hope will happen around the dinner table. We hope that people will talk about this with their classmates, that business will talk about this.”
The campaign began last week and will end the first week of November.
Trooper Chris Casey said it’s an opportunity for each and every motorist to reflect on their driving habits.
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