One person died and four people were injured in a two-vehicle crash involving a sedan and an SUV near the University of Tennessee Arboretum on South Illinois Avenue on Friday afternoon, May 26, 2017, authorities said. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
One person died and four people were injured in the two-vehicle crash near the University of Tennessee Arboretum on South Illinois Avenue on Friday afternoon, authorities said.
The crash was reported at about 2:47 p.m. Friday at Commerce Park Drive, which is across from the Arboretum.
The two vehicles involved were a sedan and a sport utility vehicle, the City of Oak Ridge said in a press release.
Three people were inside the sedan: two adults and one child. The adult passenger was killed. The adult driver and child passenger were injured.
Two adults inside the SUV were injured, the city said.
All of the victims were taken to the University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville. Two were taken by UT Lifestar medical helicopters and two by ambulance, the city said. The extent of their injuries and current conditions are unknown. Their identities haven’t been released.
The press release said crash reconstruction teams were still on the scene as of Friday evening. The Oak Ridge Police Department estimated that the road would re-open around 9 p.m. Friday.
The crash remains under investigation, the city said, and no more information will be released at this time.
“The Oak Ridge Police Department would like to thank all agencies responding to this crash, including the Oak Ridge Fire Department, Oak Ridge Public Works and Electric Departments, the Anderson County Sheriff’s Department, Anderson County EMS, and UT Lifestar,” the press release said. “A nearby business, Rogers Group Inc., also assisted by opening up a private road to allow diverted traffic to exit the area more easily.”
It was the second crash that shut down part of South Illinois on Friday. Earlier Friday, a section of the road was closed between Lafayette Drive/Scarboro Road and South Rutgers Avenue after a three-vehicle crash involving a dump truck spilled about 100 gallons of diesel fuel on the five-lane road. The road was shut down while workers cleaned up the fuel.
More information will be added as it becomes available.
Note: Authorities have released the identities of the adults who were injured or killed in this crash.
Two medical helicopters responded to a crash on South Illinois Avenue near the University of Tennessee Arboretum on Friday afternoon, May 26, 2017. The first helicopter, a UT Lifestar helicopter, left the crash with a patient at about 3:20 p.m. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
Two medical helicopters responded to a crash on South Illinois Avenue near the University of Tennessee Arboretum on Friday afternoon, May 26, 2017. The second helicopter, also a UT Lifestar helicopter, arrived at the crash at about 3:20 p.m. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
Thank you to reader Kevin Rice for his help monitoring scanner traffic.
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Linda Brown says
I am one of the many who travel this road each day. Problems that I see each day are: number of vehicles, speeding, not using turn signals when changing lanes, making sudden moves, making unsafe lane changes, not watching far enough ahead to see what is going on with tbat, distracted drivers, not being courteous to other drivers to name a few.
Read the small print in the TV commercials for vehicles-
PROFESSIONAL DRIVER. CLOSED COURSE. DO NOT ATTEMPT.
We all have a place to go each morning-work,school, store, vacation so we all have to slow down to the speed limit (or at least a heck of alot closer than we are driving at this time), be courteous, be defensive drivers, use turn signals.
There are too many crosses along our roadways of people who will NOT be coming home to their loved ones, not be going to work, not be going to school anymore.
I know I made the decision that a few more minutes (and it really is only a few) enroute to my destination is NOT worth me being in an accident causing injury or death, traffic back up ( and now we are late/delayed).