A juvenile was left in critical condition after a four-vehicle crash tore through the busy interchange of US 321 South and I-85 in Gastonia on Saturday afternoon, according to police. Officers responded to the scene shortly before 2 p.m., and the young victim remained in critical condition late into Saturday night.
Gastonia police said the juvenile was taken to a local hospital following the crash, according to Queen City News. Photographs released by the Gastonia Police Department from the scene showed extensive physical damage to at least two of the four vehicles involved, according to WCNC. Investigators are still working to determine what caused the four vehicles to collide, per the Gastonia Police Department.
Highway Shut Down as Crews Rushed the Injured Minor to Care
Emergency responders closed southbound US 321 for roughly 30 minutes as crews worked the scene and transported the injured minor to CaroMont Regional Medical Center, according to WSOC-TV. CaroMont Regional Medical Center operates a Level III Trauma Center along with a dedicated Pediatric Emergency Department, serving as Gaston County's primary acute care hospital facility, according to CaroMont Health. The closure, though brief, backed up traffic at one of the region's most heavily used highway junctions during a Saturday afternoon rush.
Gastonia police established a dedicated four-member civilian crash investigation team back in May 2025 specifically to process minor property-damage collisions, freeing up sworn traffic officers to handle calls involving critical injuries like Saturday's crash, the station's report notes. That structure means the current investigation into what caused the pileup is likely being handled by sworn officers rather than the civilian unit, given the severity of the juvenile's injuries.
A Chronically Dangerous Interchange
The interchange where the crash occurred is no stranger to heavy traffic and safety concerns. NCDOT traffic volume data shows more than 100,000 vehicles travel Interstate 85 daily, while nearly 50,000 vehicles use US 321 through the Gastonia interchange each day, per the same account. That volume has made the junction a repeated target for state safety upgrades, including NCDOT's Project I-5000, a geometric redesign aimed at mitigating chronic congestion and merge-lane hazards.
More recently, NCDOT launched Project I-5719 in 2026 to widen a 9.8-mile stretch of Interstate 85 beginning at Exit 17 at US 321 in Gastonia, an effort intended to reduce the severe corridor queueing and collision risks that have plagued the area. Gaston County as a whole records more than 6,000 crashes and over 2,300 non-fatal crash injuries annually, consistently placing it among North Carolina's 15 highest-crash counties, according to NCDOT crash profile data published via Connect NCDOT. Both US 321 and I-85 are state-maintained highways, meaning traffic management and any structural alterations at the interchange fall under NCDOT authority rather than the City of Gastonia.
North Carolina law requires that any driver involved in a collision resulting in serious bodily injury or death stop immediately and remain at the scene. Under North Carolina General Statutes § 20-166, failing to do so is a Class F felony carrying up to 41 months in prison, according to the Vasquez Law Firm. It remains unclear whether that statute factors into the ongoing investigation.
Part of a Troubling Pattern on the Corridor
Saturday's crash adds to a string of serious incidents along the US 321 corridor in recent months. Hoodline previously reported on an overturned tractor-trailer near this same interchange in July 2025, as well as multiple tractor-trailer accidents along I-85 in Gaston County during Winter Storm Fern in January. A separate crash in Hickory just one day earlier left three people injured after a Norfolk Southern train shoved a car for several blocks, underscoring how frequently the broader US 321 corridor in western North Carolina has been the site of severe collisions this year.
As of Saturday night, the juvenile remained in critical condition and Gastonia police had not released further details on what caused the four-vehicle crash. The investigation remains ongoing.
