A 17-year-old driver was flown to a hospital by a medical helicopter after a two-vehicle crash near Norris on Wednesday morning, and an adult driver and two young children were taken to a hospital with serious and minor injuries, authorities said.
The head-on collision was reported at about 7:35 a.m. on State Route 61 at Bethel Road just east of Interstate 75, according to the Tennessee Highway Patrol.
The 17-year-old was driving west on SR 61 in a 1999 Mazda 4000 when the teenager crossed the center line around Bethel Road, the THP said.
The Mazda tried to turn back into the westbound lane but hit an eastbound 2002 Chevrolet Tahoe driven by Tara Bales, 31, of Clinton, the THP said.
The 17-year-old was flown in a University of Tennessee Lifestar medical helicopter to the UT Medical Center in Knoxville.
Bales and two passengers in the Tahoe, a seven-year-old and a one-year-old, were taken by ambulance to UT Medical Center with serious and minor injuries, the THP said.
The two drivers were wearing seat belts, the THP said, and the children were restrained in a booster seat or “CRD-rear facing” device.
There are no pending charges, according to the preliminary information from the THP.
It was the first of two serious crashes in Anderson County on Wednesday. A pedestrian was killed in the second, a truck-pedestrian crash on Oliver Springs Highway at Old Batley Road at about 10 a.m. Wednesday.
More information will be added as it becomes available.
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