Billy Joe Dowell, 27, died a few hours after being involved in this single-vehicle accident on Chestnut Grove Church Road on Sunday night.

Alleghany man, 27, dies after single-car accident on Sunday

A 27-year-old Alleghany County man suffered fatal injuries in a single-vehicle accident Sunday night at about 7:35 p.m. on Chestnut Grove Church Road, according to a report filed by Trooper R.L. Lane.

Fatally injured was Billy Joe Dowell, whose address was listed on the accident report as Rural Route 1 in Glade Valley. Dowell's obituary lists his address as Carson Wood Road in Laurel Springs. A complete obituary listing appears on Page 9A of this week's edition.

Dowell's death marked the fifth fatality related to automobile accidents in Alleghany County this year. Those five deaths have occurred in four accidents. The crash location was about two miles southeast of the Sparta town limits. Soon after the accident, Dowell was transported to Wake Forest University's Baptist Medical Center (N.C. Baptist) in Winston-Salem. He died there at 5:35 a.m. Monday.

According to Dr. Maryanne Gaffney-Craft, who served as medical examiner, Dowell's cause of death was a massive head injury.

According to Lane's report, Dowell was traveling north on Chestnut Grove Church Road in a 1993 Ford when he entered a curve and lost control of the vehicle.

The Ford then traveled off the right side of the road and struck a telephone box and continued onward, striking a tree, the report said.

The vehicle then spun around and came to rest near the tree.

The white 1993 Ford, which Dowell was driving, was listed as the property of Betty Shepherd Bennett of Little Horse Creek Road in Lansing. Estimated damage to the Ford was listed at $4,200. Estimated damage of $500 to the telephone box, listed on the report as the property of Skyline Telephone in Sparta, was reported.

According to Lane, alcohol consumption and excessive speed were both factors in the accident. However, Lane's report states that Dowell was traveling at an estimated speed of 50 miles per hour, five miles per hour less than the posted speed limit for the road. Nonetheless, the speed of travel was too fast for the curve Dowell was attempting to maneuver, Lane indicated.

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