Louisa woman dies in single-car wreck

A Louisa County woman was killed Monday afternoon in Keswick when her 1999 Chevrolet Monte Carlo sped off Route 231, crashed through a fence, and struck a tree.

Katherine D. Crouch, 52, was pronounced dead at the scene of the single-vehicle crash, which occurred in the 6000 block of Route 231, also known as Gordonsville Road, near Keswick Vineyards.

Albemarle County police and rescue crews were called to the wreck at 12:05 p.m. Crouch was found dead inside her vehicle at 12:15. A broken fence post had punctured her torso, police said at the scene.

Crouch’s death is the 11th traffic fatality to occur so far this year in Albemarle County. During 2007, the county had 16 fatal accidents.

Four of the county’s traffic deaths that occurred last year happened on Route 231, a curvy and heavily traveled two-lane road, said Cpl. Sean C. Hackney of the Albemarle County Police Department.

“We don’t know yet what caused this accident,” Hackney said. “But we are very familiar with this road.”

Authorities are investigating the cause of Monday’s crash, he said. Crouch was wearing her seatbelt and the vehicle’s airbag deployed.

In May 2006, police responded to another single-vehicle accident in the 6000 block of Gordonsville Road. In that case, a 1995 Camry ran off the road and struck several trees. All five of the vehicle’s occupants, including a small child, were injured in the crash.

Route 231 was a focus of the Albemarle County Police Department’s speed enforcement campaign earlier this year. The roadway, police noted at the time, is one of several primary highways that is a common source of citizen complaints and high-speed accidents.