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Man, 85, killed in accident on Ohio 73

Neighbors said driver pulled out in front of semi in intersection.

Staff photo by Nick Graham

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By Chelsey Levingston, Staff Writer Updated 7:16 AM Monday, February 6, 2012

WAYNE TWP. — A Hamilton area man and a dog are dead after a fatal accident Sunday afternoon that caused a semi to flip on its side.

Peter Morris, 85, was driving a white 2002 Volvo southbound on Jacksonburg Road at about 2:45 p.m. Sunday when he failed to yield at the stop sign, crossing the path of a tractor-trailer, according to Butler County Sheriff’s Office. The semi was going west on Ohio 73, said Sgt. Jeff Gebhart, with the Sheriff’s Office. The semi struck the driver side of the car.

“We don’t know if the Volvo came to a complete stop,” Gebhart said. “We believe that the driver was killed on impact.”

The site of the accident, the intersection of Ohio 73 and Jacksonburg Road in Wayne Twp., has seen frequent accidents, said neighbors and Butler County Sheriff’s deputies.

The driver of the semi, Craig Withrow, did not have serious injuries, Gebhart said.

Traffic was blocked in all four directions of the intersection for more than two hours. Dee VandDemark, whose home is next to the intersection, said she saw the accident happen like it was in slow motion. She was in her kitchen at the stove when she heard the semi’s tires screeching to try to stop. She ran outside.

“The guy just pulled out right in front of him ... The trucks, in all honesty, they’re really moving on this road,” VandDemark said. “I thought, ‘Oh my goodness, this is going to be bad.’”

“It’s almost always somebody from this side pulling out in front of traffic,” she said.

Other neighbors who did not want to be identified said it was as bad as any accident they’ve seen at the intersection before. Most of the time, the accidents happen there because of people not paying attention, a neighbor said.

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