Three people lost their lives in separate motor vehicle accidents on Thursday.

Those fatalities, one each in Bertie, Gates and Hertford counties, brought the year’s highway death toll to 16 within the Troop A/District II area served by the North Carolina State Highway Patrol. Six of those fatalities have occurred since June 12.

Thursday’s tragic events began at 5:25 p.m. in southeastern Gates County where a 75-year-old man was struck and killed while riding a bicycle.

According to a report filed by Trooper J.S. Archer, Noah Linwood Eason of Belvidere, located in Perquimans County, was riding a bicycle east on RP 1424 (Joppa Road) when he pedaled into the path of a 1999 Ford pick-up truck driven by Brett Robert Casper, 27, of Sunbury.

Archer’s report showed that Casper’s vehicle was traveling south on RP 1002 (Acorn Hill Road) at the time of the accident.

“Witnesses of the accident said things happened so quickly that Mr. Casper just didn’t have time to react,” NCSHP First Sgt. Todd Lane said.

Eason was pronounced dead at the scene.

No charges were filed by Trooper Archer.

That fatality was the first of the year on a Gates County roadway.

Less than three hours later, an Aulander man lost his life in a single-vehicle wreck on RP 1221 (Charles Taylor Road), located near Francis Mill (Lewiston-Woodville area).

NCSHP Trooper W.S. Skinner reported that 30-year-old Alonzo Lee Spivey was killed at the scene of the accident, one occurring at 8:04 p.m.

Skinner’s investigation of the wreck scene revealed 681 feet of tire (skid) marks, leading the Trooper to estimate the speed of Spivey’s car, a 1996 Mazda, in excess of 90 mph. The vehicle, traveling north, reportedly ran off the left side of the road at which time Spivey apparently overcorrected, causing the car to run off the right side of the road where it struck a ditch bank. After making impact with the ditch, the car overturned and struck a tree.

Spivey, reportedly not wearing a seat belt, was partially ejected from the vehicle.

That motor vehicle fatality brought the 2008 Bertie County highway death toll to seven.

The tragedy-filled day ended in Hertford County with the report of an 11:41 p.m. fatal wreck on NC 11 Business in Millennium.

There, Trooper Skinner reported that Kelvin Lamont Futrell, 29 of Ahoskie, was killed as the result of injuries sustained in a two-vehicle accident, one that occurred just north of RP 1184 (St. John-Millennium Road).

Futrell was reportedly operating a 1999 Chevrolet Blazer south on NC 11 Business. His vehicle allegedly traveled off the right side of the road at which time Futrell apparently overcorrected, causing the Blazer to re-enter the roadway where it crossed the centerline and struck, head-on, a 2006 Ford SUV operated by Addie Wilder, 39, of Aulander.

After striking Wilder’s SUV, Futrell’s vehicle overturned into the yard of a private residence where it caught fire and was completely destroyed. Futrell, reportedly unrestrained by a seat belt, was ejected and not in the vehicle when it burned.

Wilder was transported by Hertford County EMS to Roanoke-Chowan Hospital where she was treated and released.

Trooper Skinner reported that excessive speed (75 mph in a 45 mph zone) and alcohol, both on Futrell’s part, were contributing factors in the deadly crash.

The fatality was the eighth of the year on a Hertford County roadway.