news-record.com

A trip by young people from Worthington, Ohio, to a soccer tournament in Greensboro has ended with one teenager in life-threatening condition at Moses Cone Hospital.

Nate Marburger, 18, who was not wearing a seatbelt, suffered serious injuries after the SUV he was riding in flipped several times near U.S. 29 and Hicone Road, Highway Patrolman C.D. Knox said.

The teenage driver of the Toyota Land Cruiser and a young female passenger, who were both wearing seatbelts, escaped with minor injuries, Knox said.

The trio had left Ohio about 2 a.m. and were less than a mile away from Bryan Park, where the driver’s brother was playing in a soccer tournament. Knox said Jason Chakroff, 18, told him that he had been driving all night and fell asleep about 9:08 a.m., while driving north on U.S. 29.

At some point Chakroff’s vehicle drifted into the median near Hicone Road, where it struck a road sign and overturned several times, eventually crossing into the southbound lanes. No other vehicles were involved, Knox said.

The crash provides many lessons, Knox said, including the importance of wearing a seatbelt and in planning trips.

“You hear so much about driving while impaired and the things that

can happen from being drunk, but we see so many collisions when people who put pressure on themselves to be somewhere at a certain time,” Knox said. “If you need to pull over and rest … do so. Try breaking up

those longer trips where you are not putting so much pressure on getting there.”

Contact Nancy McLaughlin at 373-7049 or nancy.mclaughlin@news-record.com.