A semi truck driver died this week as a result of injuries sustained in a crash caused by a woman who stopped her car in the roadway to allow a turtle to cross the road.
The crash happened on Tuesday, April 9, near Edenton, North Carolina, according to a report from The Daily Advance.
Authorities say that 68 year old truck driver Arthur Ray Turner was traveling on Highway 17 about four miles north of Denton when he crashed into an SUV that stopped in the roadway.
The crash sent the semi truck into the ditch on the right side of the highway while the SUV went into the median. Both vehicles were severely damaged in the crash.
Turner was reportedly able to exit the truck under his own power but later died as a result of his injuries in the hospital.
The SUV driver, 69 year old Patricia Ann Signor, was not injured in the crash.
Signor told police after the crash that she had stopped her vehicle in the roadway to allow a turtle to cross.
Police are still investigating the crash and charges could be filed. Signor was initially ticketed but then troopers decided to reevaluate.
The turtle died after it was run over by Signor’s SUV during the crash.