Fatality confirmed in Wythe County I-81 crash on Saturday

Bluefield Daily Telegraph, W.Va.
·1 min read

Aug. 3—WYTHEVILLE, Va. — There was one fatality Saturday in a two-vehicle crash reported Saturday on Interstate 81 in Wythe County, Va.

At 2:42 p.m. on Saturday, troopers with the Virginia State Police responded to a crash on northbound I-81 almost a half mile south of Ready Mix Road, according to Shelby Crouch, public relations coordinator for the state police.

A 2021 Freightliner Cascadia tractor-trailer was traveling north in the middle lane when it attempted to move into the left lane, striking a 2013 Chevrolet Tahoe. The Tahoe ran off the left side of the road and into the median, Crouch said. After striking the Tahoe, the tractor-trailer ran off the left side of the road and traveled through the median where it struck the guardrail. It then continued into the southbound lanes, swerved back into the guardrail and median where it overturned.

The tractor-trailer's driver, Willis M. Peters, Jr., 43, of San Bernardino, Calif., died at the scene. He was wearing a seatbelt.

The Tahoe's driver, Mary L. Oriley, 34, of Appomattox, Va., was uninjured. She was wearing her seatbelt.

The crash remains under investigation, Crouch said.