New traffic light installed at fatal intersection

Workers are now putting up a traffic light at the intersection where six people died over a week ago.

Gussie Cain's 50-year-old prayer was finally answered Monday when she saw men putting up a traffic light near her home.

"I'm very grateful for that, hoping it's going to help a whole lot,” Cain said.

Cain said she and her daughter have asked for a traffic light every time an accident happens. She's seen her share of wrecks at the intersection of Nowell Road and N.C. 54.

None of the accidents were more deadly than the accident on November 1. Six people were killed when a van plowed over a group helping victims from a previous accident.

“That was the first one that somebody was actually killed,” Cain said. “There have been a lot of them hurt."

Cain said while she's thankful for the light, she believes lives might have been saved if it had come sooner.

“It would have helped a lot, I know,” she said.

Attorneys for Larry Veeder, the man charged in that deadly wreck, said part of their case could rest on problems at that intersection as well. Rick Gammon said many residents said the area is poorly lit.

"Whether or not those things contributed to the accident I don't really know at this point in time but surely we want to turn over every stone,” Gammon said.

Gammon said Veeder is trying to cope.

“Although it may be an accident still, even if he were not drinking and if you ran a stop sign and you weren't drunk and six people died as a result of you running a stop sign, he would be very difficult to live with,” Gammon said.

Veeder is facing six counts of involuntary manslaughter and DUI. Gammon said he is waiting for all the evidence and has launched his own investigation.

State officials said it is a coincidence they are putting up a traffic light just over a week after the fatal accident and that they have been working on putting it up for weeks.

Copyright © 2003 TWEAN d.b.a. News 14 Carolina