An Oak Ridge driver was injured in this rollover accident at about 9 p.m. Monday on South Illinois Avenue near Edgemoor Road, authorities said (Photo by Tom Scott)
An Oak Ridge driver injured in a rollover accident Monday night reportedly passed other cars at high speed and changed lanes before drifting off South Illinois Avenue, striking a cement bridge rail at Bethel Valley Road, and traveling a total of about 100 feet through the air, an accident report said.
The driver was trapped inside the vehicle, an Oak Ridge Fire Department report said. Rescuers cut the unidentified driver out of the 1995 Jeep Cherokee, removing the vehicle’s roof, windshield, remaining side windows, and driver’s side doors.
The driver was then flown by a Lifestar helicopter to the University of Tennessee Medical Center, an Oak Ridge Police Department report said.
The ORPD report identified the driver as Montgomery Lloyd Samu-Dodson, a 21-year-old Nevada Circle resident
The accident occurred at about 9 p.m. Monday. Two witnesses told Oak Ridge police officers the southbound driver had passed them at a speed of more than 90 mph and had switched from the left lane to the right lane before drifting off the road about 1,000 feet south of Commerce Park Drive.
After hitting the cement rail over Bethel Valley Road, the Jeep sports utility vehicle continued onto the metal guard rail and went airborne, the accident report said. It traveled about 33 feet before the rear of the vehicle hit the ground. It went airborne again and flew about 75 feet before coming to a stop facing west.
More information will be added as it becomes available.
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