A crew from Clinton Highway Wrecker Service works to pull a Mercury Mountaineer out of a creek alongside Clinton Highway after a two-vehicle crash on Tuesday, Feb. 16, 2016. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
CLAXTON—A Clinton man had minor injuries after his sport utility vehicle went down an embankment and rolled into a creek after a two-vehicle crash on Clinton Highway on Tuesday morning, authorities said.
The crash was reported at 8:09 a.m. Tuesday near the bridge over Bull Run Creek in Claxton.
Authorities said Jessica D. Parton, 28, of Powell, was driving east in a 2006 Dodge Ram pickup on Clinton Highway in the right lane when she hydroplaned and lost control while crossing the bridge. Parton began to spin out, the Tennessee Highway Patrol said in a preliminary report.
Donald H. Henderson, 69, of Clinton, was driving a 1997 Mercury Mountaineer behind Parton, and he tried to get into the left lane to avoid her, the THP said.
But the right side of Parton’s truck hit the right side of Henderson’s SUV, and the Mountaineer veered right and then went down the embankment on the right side of the road, the THP said. It then flipped onto its top on the far side of a small creek that feeds into the larger Bull Run Creek. The feeder creek, which runs alongside Clinton Highway, is about six feet wide and possibly a few feet deep.
The SUV ended with its front end partially submerged and facing roughly toward Clinton.
Henderson was wearing a seatbelt, but he had minor injuries, according to the THP. Reports from the scene said he was initially trapped but able to crawl out.
Parton’s pickup continued a short distance after it hit Henderson’s SUV and then came to a stop in the right lane facing east, authorities said. Parton was wearing a seat belt and was not injured, the THP said. She was charged with financial responsibility, the THP said.
Besides the THP, the Anderson County Sheriff’s Department, Claxton Fire Department, and Anderson County Rescue Squad responded. An ambulance was also at the scene.
A tow truck from Clinton Highway Wrecker Service used two cables hooked at the front and back of the SUV to pull it out of the creek and up the embankment. Emergency workers were on the scene for about 75 minutes.
There were many reports of slippery surfaces on local roadways on Tuesday morning, particularly due to black ice. The four-lane Tri County Boulevard bridge over downtown Oliver Springs, which was described as extremely slippery, was briefly closed Tuesday morning as crews worked to make the road safer to drive.
More information will be added as it becomes available.
A Tennessee Department of Transportation truck spreads salt on the bridge over Bull Run Creek near a two-vehicle crash on Clinton Highway on Tuesday, Feb. 16, 2016. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
A crew from Clinton Highway Wrecker Service works to pull a Mercury Mountaineer out of a creek alongside Clinton Highway after a two-vehicle crash on Tuesday, Feb. 16, 2016. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
A 69-year-old Clinton man had minor injuries after the 1997 Mercury Mountaineer he was driving went down an embankment and rolled into a creek after a two-vehicle crash on Clinton Highway on Tuesday, Feb. 16, 2016. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
The Tennessee Highway Patrol investigated the two-vehicle crash, which also included a Dodge Ram pickup, on Clinton Highway on Tuesday, Feb. 16, 2016. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
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