By DON FLETCHER
News Staff Writer
A Baldwin County woman apparently escaped with only minor injuries after a blown tire caused her vehicle to leave U.S. 31 in a curve just outside Atmore, clip a utility pole, then roll over and slide onto its side in a ditch next to a local salvage yard.
According to Alabama State Trooper reports, the single-vehicle crash occurred around 10 a.m. Sunday, February 17, at the highway’s 39.2-mile marker.
Reports show that Angelia Prim, age not provided, of Loxley was northbound on 31 in a 1999 Jeep when the rear, driver’s-side tire blew.
Prim was unable to maintain control of the vehicle as it headed into the curve that begins to straighten out at West Side Salvage and Recycling. The Jeep slid off the road and hit the utility pole, gouging a chunk of wood out of it and yanking its guy wire loose.
The vehicle then bounced off the pole and rolled over before coming to rest on its passenger side.
Crews from Southern Pine Electric Co-op were sent to the scene, where the pole was teetering without its ground support, and reattached the guy wire and support.
An ambulance and an Atmore Fire Department unit also responded to the wreck site.
AFD reports show that Prim had gotten out of the overturned vehicle when firefighters arrived. Medics reportedly loaded the Loxley woman into an ambulance, but she refused to leave in the medical transport vehicle. She was assisted from the ambulance and was taken to Atmore Community Hospital by a relative in the relative’s personal vehicle, reports show.
No further details were available as troopers continued their investigation into the crash.