The Triangle region’s first traffic-related fatality of 2021 came in Orange County on Friday, according to reports.

The Orange Rural Fire Department shared a Facebook post around 2 p.m. on January 1 saying crews were responding to a fatal wreck on Interstate 85. Later, WRAL reported the driver was Shadeshia Brooks from Graham, North Carolina.

Brooks, a 30-year-old mother, was driving toward Durham on I-85 when she lost control of her Ford pickup truck close to the Interstate 40 split near Hillsborough. According to WRAL, the truck ran off the right side of the highway, hit a guardrail and overturned. Authorities said Brooks was not wearing a seatbelt and died after being thrown from the truck.

The Orange Rural Fire Department shared an update around 4 p.m. Friday saying the northbound stretch of interstate had reopened.

 

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