Mom, three adult children hurt in car-truck wreck

Sanford, N.C. — A wreck involving a tractor-trailer and SUV injured a mother and her three adult children along U.S. Highway 1, south of Sanford, Thursday night.

The family was riding in a southbound Infiniti SUV that hit the rear of a tractor-trailer, which had just pulled out of a parking lot, around 10:30 p.m., troopers said. The wreck occurred about 3.5 miles south of Sanford.

A backseat passenger, Eduarda Pleitez-de Bonilla, 49, of Sanford, was partially ejected through the windshield.

She suffered life-threatening injuries and was flown to UNC Hospitals in Chapel Hill. Hospital officials could not provide her condition Friday morning.

The three other occupants of the SUV – Carmen Bonilla, 27, of Sanford; Maria Pleitez, 24, of Raleigh; and Alexander Bonilla, 17, of Sanford – were treated at Carolina Central Hospital and released.

The tractor-trailer driver, Aaron Tarlton, 42, of Marshville, was treated at the scene for minor injuries.

Troopers charged Carmen Bonilla, who was driving the SUV, with failure to reduce speed. She told troopers that she had looked away from the road and didn't see the tractor-trailer pull out.

Pleitez-de Bonilla was not wearing a seat belt, troopers said. Her three children were using their seat belts.

9 Comments

WRAL.com welcomes your comments on this story. All comments are moderated prior to publication based on our posting guidelines. Please review them prior to posting and if your message is not approved.

VIEW ALL 9 COMMENTS

This story is closed for comments. Comments on WRAL.com news stories are accepted and moderated between the hours of 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Latest Comments

The tractor trailer driver wasn't charged because the woman hit him. She was inattentive, according to her own words, and most probably speeding, due to the fact that a passanger was partially ejected. I send out prayer to all those involved, especially that the lady had insurance, a valid drivers license and is legal in all sense of the word.

tiggers
January 16, 2009 1:50 p.m.

It depends entirely on how fast she was going.

No offense if she was going fast enough to partially eject a rear seat passenger through the windshield; the truck driver may not have seen her coming.

And consider location; that stretch of road may have had room or another lane for her to use had she been paying attention.

Prayers to all; but I certainly hope they had insurance.

gordonbabe
January 16, 2009 12:11 p.m.

According to my understanding of the law, if the vehicle has enough time to get into your lane before you hit it, then you are at fault. If you hit it in the rear, that is. If you broadside it, then they didn't have enough time to fully get in the lane, and they would be at fault. NC also requires that you make every attempt to stop and not hit the other vehicle. If it is determined that you had enough time that you could have slammed on the brakes and skidded to a stop w/o hitting the other person, then you would share fault. Basic rule of thumb is, if you hit them from behind, no matter the circumstances, it is your fault. Not that I agree with it....

kewlmom
January 16, 2009 12:07 p.m.

I do not understand this; if the SUV was in the lane and the tractor trailer pulled into the lane in front of it, why wasn't the ticket given to the truck driver? I thought clearing the traffic before entering the lane was part of the driving test...unless that only applies to POV's. I try to adjust for incoming traffic, but some big rig drivers act like the road is theirs and the rest of us are nuisances.