MERRY HILL – A Martin County man became the area’s third motor vehicle fatality of 2005 following a two-vehicle accident in Bertie County on Tuesday.

With a report pending from the North Carolina State Highway, information was confirmed through Bertie emergency responders that Phillip Vick of Jamesville lost his life in the accident.

The accident occurred in the early morning hours on Tuesday at the intersection of NC 45 and NC 308. Vick was reportedly operating a pick-up truck that allegedly collided with an 18-wheeler. The name of the other driver or his condition following the mishap was not confirmed.

Both of the previous R-C area motor vehicle fatalities, one in late January and the other in February, involved Cofield residents.

The year’s first fatality was Cynthia Burke Winborne who lost her life in a single-car crash on the Ahoskie-Cofield Road. In February, Tyrone McCoy Carter Jr. was killed after the pick-up truck he was operating overturned three times after he allegedly lost control of the vehicle while traveling south on U.S. 13 near Powellsville.