Driver critical after Hancock crash

She failed to stop at intersection

By J.R. WELSH
jrwelsh@sunherald.com

WAVELAND --

A local woman was in critical condition today after an automobile accident so severe that first responders were forced to use a Jaws of Life device to remove her from her car.

The crash occurred shortly before 12:45 p.m. as Pamela Plauche, 40, of Bay St. Louis, was driving north on Lower Bay Road in a 1991 Nissan Maxima. She failed to stop at the intersection of Lower Bay Road and U.S. 90 and was struck by an eastbound Ford F-350 pickup truck, said Waveland Police Chief James Varnell.

Varnell reported a witness said she had been talking on the phone with Plauche when the accident occurred, and the victim had been heading to her home at the time. Plauche was taken to Hancock Medical Center, where she was listed in critical condition.

No serious injuries were apparently suffered by Pearlington resident George Barnes, 65, driver of the pickup truck. Waveland Fire Department Rescue responders and the Hancock County Sheriff's Department assisted Waveland Police in the case.