Man flung from car, run over in wreck

Wednesday, Oct. 31, 2007

By Marcie Young
Charlotte Observer Staff Writer

A Minnesota man died Tuesday night after he was flung from his car onto the highway and run over by another vehicle, authorities said.

Peter Yang of St. Paul, Minn. was driving a 1994 Honda west on Interstate-40, less than a mile from Valdese, shortly before 10 p.m. Tuesday and was merging into another lane when he lost control of the car and slammed into the guardrail, said First Sgt. J.G. Duckworth of the N.C. Highway Patrol.

Yang was going about 90 mph in a 65 mph zone, Duckworth said, when he hit the barrier and veered back onto the highway and into a 1995 Lexus driven by Edgar Gamez of Hendersonville.
Yang was thrown from the Honda onto the highway before the car came to rest near the side of the road, Duckworth said.

About a minute later, he said, a 2006 Chevrolet sports utility vehicle headed west on the interstate ran over Yang's body, which was still lying in the roadway.

"Did he die because of the first collision or because of being run over in the second?" Duckworth asked. "That's a question we'll probably never be able to answer."

Two passengers in Yang's car and one other person in Gamez's vehicle received minor injuries in the wreck. The driver of the SUV, Walter Labbett of Fletcher, was not hurt.

Duckworth did not know the ages of anyone involved and said that no one will be charged.

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