April 2, 1998

Collision with utility pole causes power outages along Highway 321

Leslie Hitchcock, News Editor

A car collided with a transformer bank holding three transformers Monday, causing power outages to off-campus Appalachian State University students and citizens of Boone for approximately 40 minutes.

The car, a 1993 Honda Accord traveling north on Blowing Rock Road, lost control and veered across three lanes of traffic, crashing into the base of a utility pole, breaking it in two.

According to the accident report from Boone Police Department, John David Hampton, 26, of Boone was driving in the “north bound lanes when the vehicle turned to the left going into the turn lane and then into the south bound lanes.”

The car then hit the curb and ran onto the sidewalk.  It struck a sign in the parking lot of Red Carpet Inn and then a wooden fence.

It careened off the wall and collided into the utility pole, the report said.

Hampton claims that the left front tire went flat and caused the accident, but according to Sergeant Tom Redmond of the Boone Police “the evidence  does not show any problems to the car prior to the impact.”

“(The Boone Police Department) has suspicions of the causes, but no facts,” Redmond said. According to Hampton, he has a history of seizures, the last one occurring at age 19.

Hampton’s car sustained $10,000 of damage, the utility pole had $4,000 of damage and the Red Carpet Inn incurred $250.

Kevin Johnson, visiting Boone on business, witnessed the accident from the Red Carpet Inn.

“He knocked the transformer down, and the lights and phones went down immediately,” Johnson said.

The manager of Bric-a-Bracs, Ellen Frazier, made the emergency call after seeing the accident.

“The police came first, but (all emergency crews) came within about three to four minutes,” Frazier said.

The transformer bank that Hampton struck contained 12,470 volts of electricity, said the General Manager of New River Light and Power, Don Austin.

The power went off at 9:27 p.m. and was restored by approximately 10:15 p.m., said Austin.

“We had to isolate the transformer bank, remove the old pile and transformers and then string up new power lines,” said Austin.

The Red Carpet Inn was reenergized at approximately 2:30 a.m. and was the last to regain power, Austin said.

Hampton was issued a citation for failure to reduce speed before colliding with a fixed object.
 

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