MERRY HILL – An Edenton man lost his life after a two-vehicle traffic collision here Sunday evening.

Thomas Privott Cofield, 54, was traveling south on NC 45 approximately 10.7 miles east of Windsor in a 1988 Ford Mustang when he reportedly attempted to make a U-turn in the highway.

According to the North Carolina Highway Patrol (NCHP) incident report, Cofield apparently either did not look or did not realize a vehicle was behind him before he attempted the maneuver.

&uot;In the process of trying to turn around, Cofield was struck in the driver’s side door by the vehicle following him,&uot; stated NCHP Sergeant M. W. Warren.

The driver of the second vehicle was Levar Louis Rascoe, 20, of Merry Hill.

According to his statements, Rascoe was traveling at approximately 70 miles per hour when he noticed Cofield’s vehicle trying to make the U-turn.

Rascoe, driving a 1997 Ford Crown Victoria, reportedly applied the brakes but it was not in time to avoid a collision.

Cofield, who was not wearing a seatbelt, was ejected from his vehicle.

He was transported via Eastcare helicopter to Pitt Memorial Hospital in Greenville, where he died later that night.

Charges against Rascoe are pending at this time.

He was not injured in the collision.

The death brings the total number of traffic fatalities to 12 for the year in NCHP’s Troop A District II (Bertie, Gates and Hertford counties), with five of those occurring in Bertie.