Gaston County, N.C : Two people injured after utility truck and SUV collided on Union Road in Gastonia on Tuesday afternoon, February 24, 2015

Two people were taken to the hospital after a utility truck and an SUV collided head on Tuesday afternoon, officials said.

It happened on Union Road in Gastonia.

Police said the driver of the SUV was speeding as he drove into the path of the utility truck, starting a chain reaction.

“I am blessed. God blessed me,” Debbie Taylor said.

A metal rod hit her windshield in two placed and gashed her car. She is thankful she was not impaled.

Police said the truck slowed down when the SUV crossed the center line. The vehicles collided head-on, trapping both drivers. Taylor ran over to check on the driver of the SUV.

“I went over to him and asked him if he was OK and he just looked at me,” Taylor said. “And I said, ‘It's going to be OK because God is with you.’”

He suffered life-threatening injuries. Police said speedometers are often frozen at the time of a collision. The SUV’s speedometer was stuck at just under 70 mph in a 35 mph zone.

“It’s not atypical for us to find people doing 55 mph, unfortunately, in this area,” said Sgt. K.C. McCabe.

Police had an officer checking the speed of cars on that stretch of Union Road Tuesday morning. He left an hour before the crash.

Officers said the SUV’s driver had a strong odor of alcohol. They are having his blood checked to see if he was impaired.

Source :
Police: Driver speeding in Gaston Co. head-on crash