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9:20 a.m. • 2-10-12

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Man, ejected from overturned car onto Beltline, dies


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Traffic Accident (generic)

A 21-year-old man died in a single-vehicle wreck when he was thrown from the Jones Franklin Road overpass into the median of Interstate 440 early Sunday, Raleigh police said.

The wreck report says that shortly before 3 a.m., Edward James Smith, of Wake Forest, was going north on Jones Franklin at 75 mph when his 2003 Acura sedan began to move erratically from side to side.

The car smacked into the guardrail on the opposite side of the road, then rotated clockwise and struck the concrete face of the bridge over I-440, the report says. That caused the car to overturn.

Smith, who wasn't wearing a seat belt, was ejected from the vehicle, thrown off the bridge and landed in the median of the interstate below, according to the report. The car stopped upside down in the northbound lanes of Jones Franklin.

Smith was transported to WakeMed but died as a result of his injuries.

The Inner Beltline was closed temporarily while crews cleared the scene.

The speed limit for Jones Franklin is 35 mph.

RELATED TOPICS: Raleigh, Wake Forest

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"that's nothing...three months ago a police officer was doing more than that when he hit another car and flipped....sure don't hear much about that one."

Did he die? If not, then the facts explain themselves.

He must have been driving with excessive speed. My condolences to his family. I wish all young people would learn from this, but many will not.

Driving any road, highway or interstae without your seatbelt on is down right dumb!

The only places open that late near there is the Cary Ale House and maybe Rucks Pizza and the newish HT (not sure of their hours).

Driving that fast on that two lane road unbuckled is a deathwish.

And to think I get argued with everytime I make a traffic stop over a seatbelt violation....Instructions are on the back on how to pay the fine...

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