Lynchburg News & Advance
Published: February 17, 2008

Seat belts may have saved several lives in a Friday night wreck, according to Virginia State Police.

Trooper D.M. Ledbetter said Allen Lordahl, 19, of Amherst, was driving his 1993 Pontiac Grand Am east on Izaac Walton Road near Almae Drive in Amherst County when he lost control of the vehicle.

State Police dispatchers said the call came in about 8:44 p.m.

“He was traveling … at an extremely high rate of speed,” Ledbetter said. “He lost control and flipped and hit a utility pole.”

Of the three passengers in the vehicle with Lordahl, one was trapped inside and had to be removed by emergency personnel.

“It’s the most severe accident I’ve ever worked where nobody actually got killed,” Ledbetter said. “Everybody was surprisingly okay.”

The passenger who was trapped was flown by medical helicopter to Lynchburg General Hospital with injuries Ledbetter said were severe, but not life-threatening.

Lordahl and the two other passengers were transported by ambulance.

Due to the nature of the crash, Ledbetter credited their seat belts with preventing further injuries.

Lordahl has been charged with reckless driving, among other charges Ledbetter said weren’t related to the crash.