79-year-old man dies after fatal High Point crash on Westchester Drive
A left turn at Westchester Drive and Wickliffe Avenue turned fatal when 79-year-old Fredrick Simon Lutz died after the crash.
A left turn at one of High Point’s busier corridors ended in the city’s first traffic death of 2026, after Fredrick Simon Lutz, 79, died from injuries suffered in a two-vehicle crash at Westchester Drive and Wickliffe Avenue.
High Point police said officers responded at about 2:15 p.m. on May 27 and found Lutz, a white male from High Point, at the scene. EMS took him to an area hospital, where he later died. Two other people in the second vehicle were also hospitalized with serious but non-life-threatening injuries.
Investigators believe Lutz was driving on Westchester Drive and turned left onto Wickliffe Avenue directly into the path of an oncoming vehicle. Police said the crash does not appear to involve a hit-and-run or a chase, and no charges will be filed.
The collision highlights how quickly an everyday turn can turn deadly on a major roadway where local traffic mixes with commuters and drivers headed toward nearby commercial areas. In this case, the force of the impact was severe enough to send three people to the hospital, even though only one of the victims later died.
The High Point Police Department identified the crash as the city’s first traffic fatality of 2026. The department’s Traffic Unit, which handles fatal crashes and traffic complaints, includes eight officers: one lieutenant, six investigators and enforcement officers, and one hit-and-run investigator.
For residents trying to track crash records, the City of High Point says public copies of accident and incident reports can be found through its Police to Citizen system, though reports may take 48 to 72 hours to appear online.
The fatal wreck adds another serious collision to Guilford County’s traffic picture as spring travel keeps roadways busy. In High Point, police treat fatal crashes as a core part of their traffic workload, and this one now joins the city’s record as a deadly reminder of the risks tied to left turns, speed, and split-second judgment at familiar intersections.
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