Emergency responders were kept busy after two separate vehicle crashes occurred Wednesday within minutes of each other along Joel Road due to icy conditions.

Around 9:30 p.m., first responders were dispatched to the intersection of Joel Road and Vass-Carthage Road for a vehicle that went off the roadway and into a wood line. According to N.C. Highway Patrol, the driver of a Dodge Hornet had just crossed the intersection traveling along Joel Road when he hit a patch of ice and slid off the left side of the road. The Hornet came to a stop in an area of small trees, the impact causing the airbags to deploy.

While emergency crews were on the scene of that crash, a passerby told firefighters there was another vehicle off the roadway in a fence just down the road. A fire unit left the original crash to go check on the driver of the second crash less than a half mile away near the intersection of Joel Road and Star Ridge Road. When the Trooper arrived a short time later, they reported that vehicle also hit a patch of ice, slid off the left side of the road and into a fence.

Both crashes serve as a reminder of the hazardous driving conditions caused by icy roads in the area. Authorities urge drivers to exercise caution and reduce speed during winter weather to prevent similar accidents.

Both drivers were cited for driving too fast for road conditions, and neither of them were injured. Joel Road was reduced to one lane at the location of each crash.