Driver Charged After Heading Wrong Way on I-40
Posted December 3, 2007 4:53 p.m. EST
Updated December 3, 2007 4:57 p.m. EST
Raleigh, N.C. — A Massachusetts man was charged Monday after driving in the wrong direction on Interstate 40 for five miles, authorities said.
Gary Wayne Carter, 59, flew into Raleigh-Durham International Airport and rented a car before getting onto I-40 at Aviation Parkway at about 3:15 p.m. He was trying to go west but wound up driving east in the westbound lanes and on the westbound shoulder, authorities said.
Witnesses said several drivers swerved to avoid a collision. No one was injured in the incident.
"I also quickly swerved to the right, nearly hitting the car coming in the wrong direction," Jim Markov wrote in an e-mail to WRAL. "I feel very lucky right now."
Carter pulled into the I-40 median near the Wade Avenue exit and turned around to head with the flow of traffic, a witness said.
The state Highway Patrol charged him with careless and reckless driving.
