LAUREL SPRINGS, N.C. — A North Carolina middle school teacher died Tuesday after another driver hit a deer and swerved into his path, causing a head-on crash, authorities said.
Joseph Brenden Edwards, 30, of Sparta, died at 6:45 a.m. EDT, according to the North Carolina State Highway Patrol. Edwards was driving south when a motorist driving a Ford F-150 hit a deer on the road, WXII-TV reported.
The motorist lost control of his vehicle, crossed the center line and crashed into the vehicle Edwards was driving, according to the television station.
Master Trooper Jeffrey Swagger of the highway patrol told the Wilkes Journal-Patriot that Edwards was driving a 2011 Ford Ranger pickup.
Edwards died at the scene, according to WGHP-TV. The driver of the truck, Ethan Todd, 26, of Laurel Springs, sustained injuries that were not considered to be life-threatening, the Journal-Patriot reported.
“The initial investigation does not indicate impairment to be a contributing factor. Investigating troopers will be in consultation with the district attorney’s office concerning any charges,” the highway patrol said in a news release.
Edwards was a seventh-grade science teacher at Central Wilkes Middle School in Moravian Falls, the Journal-Patriot reported. It was Edwards’ first year teaching in the Wilkes County Schools system and began in August, according to the newspaper.
“Mr. Edwards was a dedicated educator who cared deeply for his students and peers. He will be greatly missed by all of the Central Wilkes Middle School family,” Central Wilkes Principal Rodney Graham said in a statement.