PHOTO: Two people were seriously injured after a car hit a utility pole Tuesday evening. A car traveling away from George Hildebran School Road on Peyronel Street apparently lost control, ran off the side of the road and hit a utility pole, said Trooper D.R. Lane with the North Carolina State Highway Patrol. The passenger in the car had to be airlifted to a hospital, and the driver of the car was taken to a hospital in Morganton, Lane said. Identities of the people involved have not been released. Both people were wearing their seatbelts at the time of the crash, Lane said. Speed appears to be a factor. George Hildebran and South Mountain fire departments responded to the crash along with Burke EMS, Burke REACT and the NCSHP.