A Bladenboro-area man was seriously injured in a collision with a tractor-trailer Thursday morning.

According to Trooper M.C. Dipple of the N.C. Highway Patrol, Sydney Britt, 90, was ejected from his truck and sustained a broken collarbone in the collision. Britt lives at 13019 N.C. 131, Bladenboro.

Britt apparently attempted to turn into a private drive off N.C. 131 and into the path of a tractor trailer headed south on the highway. The truck driver, William Jason Oxendine of Rowland, could not stop, and struck Britt's Dodge truck in the side.

Oxendine's tractor-trailer then continued off the road, striking a mailbox, a ditch and a tree. It came to stop in the yard of a home owned by Glen Dove.

Oxendine, his young son, and Britt were transported to Southeastern Regional Medical Center in Lumberton. None of their injuries were life-threatening.

Damage to the tractor-trailer was estimated at $8,000. Britt's Dodge was demolished, with damages estimated at $15,000.

Dipple said if the impact had occurred on the driver's side, Britt would not have survived the collision.

"As it was," Dipple said, "he was a lucky man."

The crash is still under investigation.

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