Driver charged with DWI after SUV flips on Interstate 40

A wreck involving two Chevrolet Suburbans disrupted traffic on Interstate 40 in Durham on Tuesday night.

Posted 3:25 a.m. Jun 11, 2008 — Updated 3:08 p.m. Jun 11, 2008

DURHAM, N.C. — A wreck between two Chevrolet Suburbans caused significant traffic backups on both sides of Interstate 40 in Durham overnight Tuesday and resulted in drunk-driving charges against one woman.

The two Suburbans were traveling side-by-side in the eastbound lanes of I-40 past Exit 276, Fayetteville Road, around 10:30 p.m. when Margaret Whitener Savidge, 45, attempted to change lanes.

Savidge's vehicle struck one driven by Michelle Slusser Shearer, of Fayetteville. Savidge's Suburban flipped over the median and landed in the westbound lanes.

Savidge was transported to Duke Medical Center and Shearer to UNC Hospitals. Officials said both women sustained non-life threatening injuries.

Police charged Savidge, of 1305 Sadler Court in Raleigh, with driving while impaired and an improper lane change.

Traffic cameras showed traffic backing up on both sides of the highway shortly after the wreck. Authorities opened one westbound lane within an hour, and the scene appeared to be mostly cleared by 12:30 a.m.

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