Accidents Kill Drivers in Raleigh, Garner

RALEIGH, N.C. — Elderly drivers died Wednesday in separate accidents on Capital Boulevard in Raleigh and on U.S. Highway 70 in Garner .

Raleigh police said Gardiner Booth Parker, 83, of Raleigh, died after the car he was driving north on Capital Boulevard ran a red light and hit the side of a southbound Waste Industries truck that was turning left onto the Interstate 540 ramp. Parker was pronounced dead at the scene, where two of four northbound lanes were closed.

In Garner, Percy Hixton Ward, 79, of Garner died of injuries sustained in a collision between his car and a pickup truck at U.S. Highway 70 and Jessup Drive, town police said.

Ward's car was turning onto U.S. 70 from Jessup Road about 11 a.m. when he collided with a pickup truck driven by George Karim Saleeby, 60, of Willow Springs, investigators said.

Ward died at WakeMed, police said. Saleeby was taken to WakeMed with non-life-threatening injuries, they said.

The eastbound side of U.S. 70 was closed for two hours after the accident.