WINDSOR – An early morning vehicle accident near here Monday claimed the life of a Windsor man.

The North Carolina Highway Patrol office in Ahoskie reported that 34-year-old Clinton Earl Clark Jr. died at the scene of a single vehicle accident that occurred on Republican Road (RP 1260) approximately four miles north of Windsor.

NCHP Trooper J.V. Reid, who investigated the fatal mishap, said Clark was operating a 2002 Lexus passenger car on Republican Road at around 3:46 a.m.

Reid’s accident report showed that Clark’s vehicle initially traveled off the right side of the roadway at which time the driver overcorrected, causing the vehicle to veer to the left. The vehicle continued to the left, crossing the centerline and eventually off the roadway where it struck a ditch, causing the car to overturn. The vehicle came to rest when it impacted a tree.

Reid said Clark was not wearing a seatbelt. However, he was not ejected on impact.

The NCHP Trooper added that his investigation showed overcorrection and over steering by the driver as the contributing causes of the accident.

The fatality was the seventh of 2016 in the NCHP’s Troop A / District II area, which includes Bertie, Gates and Hertford counties. Three of those fatalities have occurred in Bertie County.