The driver was taken to the hospital and power was temporarily out near the Family Clinic of Oak Ridge after a DEEM van, pictured at center behind the Oak Ridge Electric Department truck, crashed into a utility pole at New York and Vermont avenues on Saturday morning. Above, a tow truck, right, responds to remove the van, and the Oak Ridge Electric Department, foreground, responds to repair the pole. (Photo by Daniel Powers)
Note: This story was last updated at 7:43 p.m. June 8.
The driver was taken to the hospital and power was temporarily out near the Family Clinic of Oak Ridge after a van crashed into a utility pole at New York and Vermont avenues on Saturday morning.
The crash was reported at about 9:05 a.m. Saturday.
Kristin Nevius said she was driving a Chrysler Town and Country van southbound toward Oak Ridge Turnpike on New York Avenue when the other van narrowly missed her vehicle and crashed into the pole while headed north on New York Avenue. Nevius and passenger Peggy VandenBurg and Nevius’ two children were not injured, but they said they were upset by the close call and subsequent crash.
The driver of the crashed van, which had DEEM company lettering on its back doors and sides, was reportedly alert and talking to emergency responders when taken to the hospital. On Monday, the City of Oak Ridge said he had been taken to Methodist Medical Center of Oak Ridge and released without injury.
The utility pole was severed, and the crash caused a power outage in the center of the city surrounding the intersection where the accident occurred. The pole supports several electrical lines. The outage appeared to affect power to the stoplights at the intersection of New York Avenue and Oak Ridge Turnpike, among other locations. Some customers on places like Utah Avenue reported losing power for up to about 11 hours.
The Oak Ridge Fire Department, Oak Ridge Police Department, and Oak Ridge Electric Department all responded to the crash.
The Electric Department replaced the severed pole and restored power on Saturday evening.
More information will be added as it becomes available.
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A family headed southbound on New York Avenue near Vermont Avenue said the northbound DEEM van narrowly missed their van before the DEEM van crashed into a utility pole at the Family Clinic of Oak Ridge. (Photo by Daniel Powers)
The DEEM company van is towed away. (Photo by Daniel Powers)
The driver was taken to the hospital and power was temporarily out near the Family Clinic of Oak Ridge after a van crashed into a utility pole at New York and Vermont avenues on Saturday morning.
Lines were down after a van crashed into a utility pole at New York and Vermont avenues on Saturday morning.
Rick Hasbrouck says
John, wouldn’t a “near-miss” actually be a “hit”?
johnhuotari says
Good point, Rick. I changed it to close call.
Mark Caldwell says
Looking at the damage to the van and pole, I’m assuming the driver was traveling a bit faster than 25 mph.
johnhuotari says
Mark, I don’t have that information, but I’ll try to get the crash report if I have a chance.
It’s my understanding that those poles will actually snap easier than you might think because of the tension on the lines.
Mark Caldwell says
Thank you John. I did not know that.
johnhuotari says
Mark,
I recently talked to Oak Ridge Electric Director Jack Suggs, and what I said earlier about the poles snapping easier because of the tension from the lines may not be correct.
Jack said he hasn’t done research on the topic, but how easily those poles snap might depend upon the type of pole and their condition, for example.
I pointed out that most of the vehicle-pole collisions I’ve covered have resulted in what seemed like fairly minor injuries, if any, but Jack said there have been fatal crashes involving utility poles.
Thank you,
John
Gary Love says
Ill jump in here, because I designed power distribution and transmission sysytems my entire adult career. All wood poles have a birthmark that tells the height and class of pole. I generally set 45′ class 4 poles on a standard pole line, but if I had alot of switches or heavy material I would set a class 2 or 3 pole. The diameter of the pole was larger for a class 3 pole as compared to a class 4, so realistically a class 2 pole would probably not break as easily as a class 4.
There are exceptions because almost all poles start weathering fastest at the top of the pole, and thats why I used pole caps on all of my installations. Also, just for your infomation, a concrete pole breaks more easily than a wood pole because the wood pole has more flex. I have set metal, fiberglass, concrete and wood with wood being the most used because of cost. Each has its own positives and I used their strenths when determining which type of pole to use.
I hope this helps some.
johnhuotari says
Thank you, Gary.
Mark Caldwell says
Thank you both Gary and John.