By BOB HIGH

The fourth highway fatality in 19 days was recorded Friday when a 40-year-old Nakina man was ejected from his out-of-control vehicle and killed when the GEO Tracker rolled over him on Pine Level Church Road south of Nakina.

Gerald Dwight Wilcox II died at the scene from head injuries in the 6:44 p.m. crash, according to Columbus County Coroner Linwood Cartrette. Wilcox is the 14th death of the year in the county, all of them in rural locations.

Highway Patrol Trooper John Lewis said Wilcox was driving north, one-tenth of a mile north of Ramsey Ford Road, when he drove to the right shoulder – as many vehicles have been doing – to avoid some potholes in the road.

“He snatched the steering wheel back to the left too quickly in too short a distance, and the (1995 GEO) Tracker went out of control. He’d probably had no injuries at all if he’d been wearing his seatbelt,” Lewis pointed out.

Lewis said the potholes had been filled with marl and the road traffic, combined with Thursday’s rain from Tropical Storm Ernesto, caused the holes to appear again. Lewis noted the holes in the road were not marked by highway signs, but said they were not the cause of the crash.

The right shoulder of Pine Level Church Road is “beaten down” from all the traffic avoiding the potholes, and Lewis said it was impossible to find Wilcox’ tracks in the mud because several other cars used the same path around the holes before the trooper arrived at the scene.

Lewis’ report showed Wilcox was traveling an estimated 50 mph when he drove around the potholes, and there were just 80 feet of skid marks from the right side of the road to where the Tracker overturned. (See Obituary page)