NORTH CAROLINA HIGHWAY PATROLMAN STRUCK BY MOTORIST

A state trooper is recovering at home after being struck last week by a car on U.S. Highway 17, north of Edenton. The accident occurred after Trooper James Bray had pulled over a motorist in the northbound lane of U.S. 17, about 4:13 p.m. on Friday. Bray got out of his patrol car to carry a speeding ticket to the driver when he was struck by a vehicle traveling approximately 65 mph. Bray was transported to Chowan Hospital and airlifted from there to Pitt County Memorial Hospital in Greenville. Bray was treated for a concussion, bruises and abrasions and released the next day. Bray is now out on injury leave, recovering at home. The driver, Robert Reid, 31, of Rocky Mount, pulled over and stopped after striking the trooper. Gould said he will likely be charged under North Carolina's "Move Over" law. The law, which went into effect Jan. 1, 2002, requires drivers to move over a lane when approaching an emergency vehicle stopped on the shoulder of the road with its lights flashing — or, in the case of a two-lane highway, to slow down.

But violations under the law come with varying degrees of severity, Gould said. So the District Attorney's Office is reviewing the case before formally charging Reid.Reid had been on his way to Elizabeth City to attend a graduation ceremony on Saturday at Elizabeth City State University. Bray is a veteran trooper who has spent the last 11 years of his 13-year career working out of the Perquimans County office of the Highway Patrol.