Woman dies in head-on collision on Cypress Creek Bridge
Published 11:30 am Sunday, September 17, 2023
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The driver of this Ford Ranger pickup escaped serious injury during a Sept. 15 accident on Cypress Creek Bridge.
For the second consecutive weekend, a car accident in Smithfield has claimed a life.
Gay Arnett Watt, 59, was killed in a head-on collision at about 6:12 p.m. Sept. 15 on the Cypress Creek Bridge on Route 10 Bypass, Virginia State Police said. The accident closed the highway for several hours.
A preliminary investigation revealed that Watt, who was driving a 2004 Toyota Tacoma, was traveling west, attempted to pass a 2022 Ford Ranger and collided head-on with a 2021 Toyota Rav4 traveling east, State Police said. Watt’s vehicle then spun into the Ford Ranger, coming to rest in the roadway.
The driver of the Toyota Rav4, 24-year-old Alexander VanCampen, sustained serious but non-life-threatening injuries and was transported to Riverside Regional Hospital. The driver of the Ford Ranger sustained minor injuries and was treated at the scene.
State Police said speed and improper passing on a solid line were “causative factors” in the accident.
The weekend prior, a two-vehicle weekend crash on Benn’s Church Boulevard in front of CVS pharmacy claimed the life of an 80-year-old Smithfield woman, Betty Hendrick Bryant of Cherry Grove Road.
