A caught-on-camera single-vehicle crash on Interstate 64 has brought an array of charges for the driver as well as a costly lesson about road rage.
Louisa County District Court records show that 36-year-old Kristina Marie Mitchell has been charged after the mid-August crash.
"Man, I knew that was going to happen," the video narrator says in real time as the 2003 Chevrolet Tracker can be seen cartwheeling.
That narrator is Amy Faulconer Lamb, a 53-year-old dog trainer who was heading back home on the interstate after dropping off a customer’s dog in Gum Spring shortly before noon on Aug. 13.
"This lady was road-raging people for miles," Lamb told The Daily Progress. "She was driving so aggressively."
Lamb said she kept hoping the behavior would end, but the driver of the burgundy-color Tracker persisted.
"That’s why I whipped my phone out," she said. "It seemed like something bad was about to happen."
Shortly before the Louisa exit, at mile marker 145, something bad did happen.
As viewers of Lamb’s viral video can see, the Tracker tailgates a black hatchback. After getting less than a car’s length behind the hatchback, the Tracker veers to the left and begins traveling with its left wheels on the median.
Within two seconds, all four SUV tires have left the asphalt and the vehicle appears to be gaining ground in the median, literally, on the hatchback.
"Holy shit," Lamb is be heard exclaiming on her video.
As the Tracker veers back toward pavement, it suddenly spins out control, kicks up dirt and rolls into a tumultuous crash that strews debris into the roadway.
A state trooper named James Wittusen found Mitchell sitting on the ground next to her totalled vehicle. And she had an explanation.
"I had been trying to get around this vehicle that was driving slow in the left lane for the last couple of miles," she allegedly told Wittusen. "Every time I tried to pass him he would speed up."
She informed the trooper she was a victim of irritation and infrastructure.
"I finally got angry and started to tailgate him," she told the trooper. "When I was tailgating him, I hit the rumble strip, and it took my vehicle into the ditch."
Lamb, however, does not accept that explanation.
"It seemed like she purposely drove off the road," said Lamb. "She drove like she had done that before."
Lamb contends this was an attempted pass on grass.
"Not only did she not hit the brake but she stayed on the gas," Lamb said. "She stayed with the black car."
Rumble strips are designed, according to Virginia Department of Transportation spokesman Lou Hatter, to keep vehicles on the road.
"Research has found that shoulder rumble strips can provide up to 36-percent reduction in roadway departure fatal and injury crashes," Hatter told The Daily Progress in an email that credits the statistic to the Federal Highway Administration.
"As to the cause or causes of this specific crash," Hatter continued, "that will be determined by the law enforcement agency investigating the crash."
Despite the ruinous roll of her ride, the seat-belted Mitchell suffered only minor injuries according to Matt Demlein, a Virginia State Police spokesman. Demlein told The Daily Progress that Mitchell faces four charges: reckless driving, following too closely, failure to provide proof of insurance and an inspection violation.
State trooper Steven Sims appears to be part of the investigative team, as he obtained a search warrant to get data from blood and urine samples drawn from Mitchell while she was getting treated at the University of Virginia Medical Center.
As for the man driving the black hatchback, Lamb said that he promptly pulled into a nearby highway crossover and told her that he chose not to cede the left lane as he was driving about 78 mph in the 70 mph zone and did not appreciate the tailgating. The Daily Progress attempted to reach him without success.
After posting her video to Facebook, Faulconer added the "Dukes of Hazzard" theme over the footage and posted the iteration to video-streaming platform TikTok. While her Facebook version has about 1,000 shares, an influencer posting her video got more than 13 millions views on X. At some point, her handiwork caught the eye of editors at the Daily Mail.
"My children think it’s crazy that their mother has a video that has gone viral," said Lamb.
State traffic records show that Mitchell has at least a dozen vehicular infractions since 2017 including three for speeding, two for driving on a revoked or suspended license and one for rear-ending a vehicle driven by fellow Louisa resident Calvin T. McGhee.
"No lingering issues," McGhee said. "I hope she is OK and gets the help she needs."
A message left on a phone believed to be Mitchell’s was not returned, and her court file does not list the name of a defense attorney. She’s due in Louisa County General District Court on Oct. 22.
Source: www.dailyprogress.com
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