A rural mail carrier and auto parts store employee collided Friday morning just off U.S. 98 in Columbia, but there were no serious injuries.
The wreck happened before 10:30 in front of Pearl River Valley Opportunity Inc., and the two drivers offered differing accounts of what happened.
Burlon Armstrong, a rural postal carrier, said he was turning off the highway in his red Chevy Impala to deliver mail when Phylicia Stokes, who works at the nearby O’Reilly Auto Parts, pulled out from the parts store in her gray Toyota Avalon “hauling tail.” Armstrong said he tried to avoid a crash but couldn’t.
But Stokes said, “He turned in wide and hit me.”
She said the blow to the driver’s side of her car pushed it over the shoulder. Her airbags deployed and she said she was feeling some pain from an air-bag burn.
Emergency personnel spoke with each of them, but neither was taken for treatment. Armstrong was able to drive his vehicle away, while Tony’s Towing pulled away Stokes’ car.
