ASHEBORO NC (ACME NEWS) – A woman told police her dog was to blame after she crashed into the side of a home at the intersection of Hoover Street and Park Street Tuesday afternoon.
The driver of a Jeep SUV was traveling west on Hoover Street with two dogs in the car. As she approached in the intersection of Hoover and Park Street the vehicle left the roadway on the left, went over the sidewalk, through a bush, and struck a home at the intersection of Hoover and N Park Street.
The impact caused significant structural damage to the home and damaged a bed room located just above where the vehicle impacted causing the floor to partially cave in. “I though there was an earthquake,” said the homeowner, who was in the living room at the time of the crash, “I was just watching TV and then Boom”. The bedroom was temporarily condemned until Triad Rental Properties could arrange repairs.
Neither the homeowner, driver, or the two dogs were injured from the incident. The driver who was identified as Tamara Lynn Weske from Asheboro was charged with Failure to Maintain Lane Control according to police.
North Carolina currently has no law requiring pets be restrained in a vehicle. House Bill 73 which was filled in Feb 2017 aimed to impose a $100 fine on anyone caught driving with a live animal in their lap.
“It is the intent of the General Assembly to ensure the safety of all who are traveling on the public streets, highways, and other public vehicular areas of this State. The General Assembly finds that the operation of a motor vehicle by a person holding a live animal in the person’s lap must be prohibited as it is a distraction that endangers the safety of the driver, any passengers in the vehicle, others traveling in the same vicinity, and the animal.”
According to the North Carolina General Assembly website, that bill was withdrawn from committee on Feb 15th 2017. It’s unclear if the driver in this incident was or was not driving with any of the dogs in her lap.