UPDATED 8:47 p.m. TUESDAY March 17 -- A silver SUV ran into a electricity pole on Raleigh Road near Country Club Road around 6:30 p.m. Tuesday backing up traffic around the UNC campus and cutting power to more than 170 Orange County homes. No one was injured in the collision.
Police said no drugs or alcohol were involved in the single-car collision. The driver" who police said ""felt his car jerk"" before the accident" was not speeding.
The car smashed into the pole head on crumpling the front of the vehicle and downing the pole.
The electrified wires fell against a roadside tree's branches flashed bright orange smoldered and smoked but did not start any fires.
Police and firemen are in the process of shutting off electricity to the area and replacing the pole. Sharon Gautier a spokeswoman for Duke Energy said the company hopes to have power back to Orange County by 1 a.m. Wednesday.
Officers did not know when the scene would be cleared and road reopened.
Traffic is not being allowed onto Raleigh Road in either direction.
About $10000 in damages was done to the pole and wiring Chapel Hill Police Officer Deborah Timmons said. An additional $10000 of damage was done to the car.
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