Falling Tree Limb Kills SC Woman at Busy I-77 Welcome Center in NC

A 68-year-old South Carolina woman died after a tree limb fell and struck her in the head while she stood on a sidewalk near some steps at the I-77 North Welcome Center in Surry County, North Carolina, last Saturday. Cindy Priselac, of Lexington County, was pronounced dead at the scene after bystanders and emergency responders' resuscitation efforts failed.

Priselac was standing near the entrance of the welcome center, located northwest of Mount Airy and roughly 100 miles north of uptown Charlotte, when the limb came down from a tree surrounding the property, according to The Charlotte Observer. Bystanders started CPR before Pine Ridge Volunteer Fire Department and Surry County EMS crews arrived and took over care, per the same report. Weather at the time was reported as clear, and on-scene reports indicated there were not strong winds when the limb fell.

The N.C. Department of Transportation, which manages the facility, announced that the welcome center remains closed following the incident and extended condolences to Priselac's family and loved ones. The site sits at milepost 105 near Dobson and is North Carolina's third-busiest welcome center, part of a corridor that sees roughly 39,000 vehicles, including more than 13,000 freight trucks, cross the Virginia-North Carolina border each day, according to Connect NCDOT traffic data.

A Life Rooted in Lexington, South Carolina

Priselac was remembered as a wife, mother and grandmother who worked at Baptist Hospital in Columbia and later started her own interior decorating business. She had previously served as vice chairman of the Free Medical Clinic board in Columbia, the Observer reported. Her obituary, published by Dignity Memorial, notes she was raised in Mt. Pleasant, Pennsylvania, attended the University of South Carolina, and had lived in Lexington for 40 years, where she also served as president of Columbia Toastmasters.

The welcome center itself dates back to 1982 and last underwent a major renovation in 1997, according to the North Carolina Department of Commerce. It is one of nine official state welcome centers positioned along the state's major interstate entryways, and the property's aging infrastructure has drawn state attention in recent months: NCDOT submitted a federal grant application earlier this year under the Rest Area Expansion for Safe Transportation project seeking to build a new welcome center facility and expand truck parking at the Surry County site, per the agency's own project documents.

Legal Hurdles Facing Any Claim Against the State

Because the welcome center is state-owned and NCDOT-managed, any wrongful death claim over the incident could not go before a standard trial court. Instead, it would have to be filed under the North Carolina Tort Claims Act with the N.C. Industrial Commission, according to the Pierce Law Group. Under that law, damages against the state are capped at $1 million per person, and any such claim would need to be formally presented within two years of the date of death.

Establishing state liability for a falling limb is not straightforward. A claimant would need to prove that state personnel had actual or constructive notice that the tree posed a hazard and failed to act or warn visitors, the firm notes. North Carolina also enforces pure contributory negligence, one of only four states to do so, meaning a victim or their estate can be barred entirely from recovering damages if found even 1 percent at fault, according to Enjuris.

Falling tree limbs are a recognized, if often overlooked, public safety hazard nationwide. Tree and branch impacts cause more than 100 deaths across the United States each year, with struck-by tree limb incidents ranking as a leading cause of severe head trauma in non-vehicle outdoor accidents, per data cited by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

It remains unclear whether the tree at the Surry County welcome center showed prior signs of decay or distress, or when NCDOT last conducted arboricultural maintenance at the site. The agency has not indicated a timeline for reopening the heavily used rest stop.