PEMBROKE, NC (WBTW) – North Carolina officials are coming together this week to discuss the high number of car crashes in Robeson County.

A press released from North Carolina Department of Transportation says the Robeson County Vision Zero Task Force will meet Thursday at 10 a.m. at the Chavis University Center room 208 on the campus of UNC Pembroke.

Thursday’s meeting will be executive meeting for the task force whose goal is to reduce highway deaths and serious injuries in Robeson County. NCDOT reports the county has the worst crash ranking in the state based on several factors including, the number of crashes, the severity of the crash, the number of fatalities and the residential population.

The NCDOT reports that Robeson County has held the number one position for crash rankings in the state since 2013. By comparison, Dare County, the state’s largest county by land mass, has been in the bottom 10 percent of crash rankings since 2015. Mecklenburg County, North Carolina’s largest county by population, has held steady near the middle of the pack for several years ranking 49th in 2013, 51st in 2014, 44th in 2015 and 41st in 2016.

North Carolina State Highway Patrol has responded to 79 car crashes in Robeson County so far this year, according to online records.

The Robeson County Vision Zero Task Force members include:

  • Grady Hunt, an N.C. Board of Transportation member and the task force chairman
  • Robeson County Sheriff Ken Sealey
  • Dr. Robin Cummings, chancellor of UNC Pembroke
  • District Attorney Johnson Britt
  • Dr. Shanita Wooten, interim superintendent, Public Schools of Robeson County
  • Joann Anderson, president and CEO, Southeastern Health
  • Gail Albertson, transportation manager, Mountaire Farms
  • County Manager Ricky Harris
  • Dr. Kimberly Gold, president, Robeson Community College
  • UNC Pembroke Police Chief McDuffie Cummings Jr.
  • Sgt. Philip Collins of the N.C. Highway Patrol
  • Travis Bryant, associate vice chancellor for campus safety and emergency operations, UNC Pembroke
  • Pembroke Police Chief Edward Locklear