A car driven by an Oak Ridge man crashed into a utility pole near Lafayette Drive on Saturday, knocking out power to about 10 customers, including Walmart and Chick-fil-A. (Photos by Tom Scott)
A car crashed into a utility pole along Lafayette Drive on Saturday afternoon, knocking out power to a few large customers, including Walmart and Chick-fil-A.
Jeffrey Wells Wallace, 60, of Oak Ridge, was eastbound in a 2010 Toyota Prius four-door sedan on Lafayette Drive near Midway Lane when his vehicle went off the roadway and struck a utility pole about six feet off the road at about 2:45 p.m. Saturday, authorities said.
Wallace was conscious was police arrived, but he said he didn’t remember the collision, Oak Ridge Police Department Officer Brandan L. Sharp said in a crash report.
Sharp said it appeared that Wallace lost consciousness before the crash. He was taken by ambulance to Methodist Medical Center.
The Oak Ridge Electric Department replaced a utility pole, and power was restored to all customers by about 6 p.m. Saturday.
Wallace was wearing a shoulder and lap belt, and he was not ejected.
Margaret Elgin, Oak Ridge Electric Department engineering division manager, said about 10 customers lost power, and electricity was restored by about 6 p.m. Elgin said one circuit on the pole stayed on during and after the crash, while the other was briefly “de-energized.”
Some utility lines are still being transferred from the old utility pole to the new one, Elgin said.
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