HAYWOOD COUNTY, NC — A 55-year-old motorcyclist was killed Friday afternoon in a crash on U.S. 23/74 in Haywood County after a Honda CR-V failed to yield and hit his Harley-Davidson, according to the North Carolina State Highway Patrol.
Troopers said the wreck happened around 12:19 p.m. near mile marker 97 while the motorcycle was traveling west. After the impact, the bike went off the left side of the roadway, struck a guardrail and came to a stop. The rider, identified as Jason Marcus Hughes of Canton, was pronounced dead at the scene.
Troopers say the motorcycle was headed west near mile marker 97
State Highway Patrol officials said Hughes was riding a Harley-Davidson westbound when the collision occurred. The Honda CR-V, driven by 82-year-old Lola Pauline Ernesti of Waynesville, is said to have failed to yield the right of way before striking the motorcycle.
The location on U.S. 23/74 is a busy corridor through Haywood County and has traffic moving in both directions. In this case, troopers said the motorcycle continued briefly after the impact, then veered off the left side of the road and hit the guardrail. Officials have not said whether any other vehicles were involved.
Jason Marcus Hughes was pronounced dead at the scene
Hughes, 55, was from Canton, a community in the same county where the crash occurred. Emergency responders reached the scene shortly after the collision, but troopers said he died where the crash happened.
No additional injuries were included in the Highway Patrol’s account. The agency did not release details about the condition of Ernesti or whether either driver required medical treatment.
Driver of Honda CR-V faces two charges after the collision
Troopers said Ernesti was charged with failure to yield the right of way and misdemeanor death by vehicle. Those charges reflect the fatal outcome of the crash and the allegation that the driver did not yield before the collision.
The Highway Patrol did not say whether the case has been assigned to a court or provide a timeline for the next legal step. No attorney comments or statements from the drivers’ families were included in the information released by troopers.
Investigators said impairment was not suspected in the wreck
According to troopers, impairment was not suspected in the crash. That detail narrows the focus of the investigation to the right-of-way violation described by officials rather than alcohol or drugs.
Even so, state authorities have not said whether speed, distraction or any other factor played a role. For now, the crash remains a fatal traffic investigation centered on a daytime collision along a major highway in western North Carolina.
A fatal reminder of how quickly right-of-way crashes turn deadly
The collision adds to the long record of serious motorcycle crashes that can happen when a larger vehicle turns or enters a rider’s path. Motorcycles are less protected than passenger vehicles, and even a single impact can send a rider off the roadway or into roadside barriers.
In this case, troopers said the Harley-Davidson left the pavement and struck a guardrail after the Honda CR-V hit it. The sequence left Hughes dead at the scene and Ernesti facing criminal charges as investigators continued to document the wreck.
