Oak Ridge Today

Guest column: Independence Day traffic safety

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The Fourth of July may be America’s iconic holiday, but all too often the revelry ends in tragedy on the highways due to drunk driving. The Anderson County Sheriff’s Department urges everyone to celebrate this Independence Day with a pledge to keep our community “independent” from drunk driving.

“The Fourth may be one of the nation’s most popular holidays, but, unfortunately, it’s also one of the most dangerous in terms of alcohol-related fatalities,” Sheriff Paul White said. “Too many people think they can get behind the wheel because they’ve only had a few drinks and just have a ‘buzz’ on. The truth is you don’t have to be ‘falling down drunk’ to be a menace to yourself and everyone around you on the highways. Remember: ‘Buzzed Driving is Drunk Driving.'” [Read more…]

Oak Ridge woman dies five days after Highway 62 crash

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A 19-year-old Oak Ridge woman died Saturday morning at a Knoxville hospital five days after she drove through a guard rail on state Highway 62 in Morgan County and hit a creek bed, authorities said.

Jaania X. Dickerson was driving north in a 2004 Chevrolet Malibu four-door sedan at about 12:43 p.m. Monday, June 17, when she went off the right side of the road, the Tennessee Highway Patrol said. She then over-corrected and ran through a guard rail on the left side of the road before landing in the creek bed. [Read more…]

State releases information on weekend crashes that ended high-speed chase

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The Tennessee Highway Patrol has released information on the Saturday night crashes in Oak Ridge that ended a high-speed chase, caused one vehicle to overturn, and sent two people to a hospital.

The chase started in Kingston late Saturday night after the suspect, Austin Cody Burns, 21, of Tellico Plains, nearly collided head-on with a vehicle driven by a deputy, the Roane County Sheriff’s Office reported. Burns allegedly fled from Roane County and Kingston Police Department officers at speeds that exceeded 90 mph. [Read more…]

Young boy hit by car, taken to UT hospital

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A 20-month-old boy ran out in front of a car on New Clear Branch Road south of Lake City on Thursday morning and was hit by a car, authorities said.

The boy, who had run out from his home on New Clear Branch Road, had no broken bones, but he was taken by ambulance to the University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville, Tennessee Highway Patrol Trooper Joseph Lindsay said. [Read more…]

Video: Driver of school bus that crashed not forced off road

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Information from WYSH Radio

The driver of an Anderson County school bus that crashed last week has been suspended until further notice after the in-bus camera recording shows that she was not forced off the road by an oncoming car veering into her lane as she had originally told investigators.

Last Tuesday, the bus carrying 43 children overturned in a grassy field off of Johnson Gap Road. Immediately after the crash, driver Tammy Moore told investigators that she had swerved to avoid an oncoming car that had veered into her lane, causing the tires on the right side of the bus to leave the roadway. The bus traveled about 200 more feet before rolling onto its side. [Read more…]

Knox teen killed in Anderson County wreck, charges pending against driver

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Information from WYSH Radio

A 19-year-old Knoxville woman was killed in a single-vehicle accident early Tuesday morning in Anderson County, and now the driver of the car she was riding in is facing charges.

The Tennessee Highway Patrol reported that Justin Seeber, 23, of Clinton had been driving a 2006 Jaguar XT3 sedan north on Highway 25W shortly before 1 a.m. Tuesday with three passengers when the accident occurred. The THP report indicates that Seeber’s car veered off the roadway and hit a ditch before re-entering the road and coming to rest. [Read more…]

Marlow man charged with vehicular homicide for two deaths after three-car crash

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Danny L. Bean

Danny L. Bean

A Marlow man has been charged with vehicular homicide in the deaths of two women who died after a three-car collision on Oliver Springs Highway in November.

Danny L. Bean, 55, of Ford Road, has been charged with two counts each of vehicular homicide by intoxication and two counts of vehicular homicide by recklessness. He has also been charged with reckless endangerment and failure to maintain a single lane.

Bean allegedly crossed the center line while driving southbound in a Toyota 4-Runner on Oliver Springs Highway on Nov. 1, causing a head-on collision with a Hyundia Elantra drive by Alberta Farrer, 56, of Clinton, according to the Tennessee Highway Patrol. Farrer died Nov. 8, a week after the accident, at the University of Tennessee Medical Center. [Read more…]

Sheriff’s Department announces enforcement partnerships to reduce traffic fatalities

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The Anderson County Sheriff’s Department and local law enforcement agencies have announced a partnership designed to reduce traffic fatalities in East Tennessee.

In a Friday press conference at the Knoxville office of the Tennessee Highway Patrol, Steve Dillard, East Tennessee Law Enforcement Liaison Officer for the Governor’s Highway Safety Office, reported an increase in fatalities last year in four East Tennessee counties: Anderson, Blount, Campbell, and Sevier. During the last five years, Anderson County alone has averaged 11 fatal crashes per year, with 13 fatal crashes in 2012, a press release said.

In response, Dillard and GHSO Director Kendall Poole outlined traffic safety activities for the next six months in the four counties. Authorities will focus on impaired and distracted drivers, and those violating speed limit and seatbelt laws. [Read more…]

THP: Anderson County man dies in Sunday motorcycle crash

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Information from WYSH Radio

An Andersonville man died early Sunday morning when his motorcycle ran off the side of a wet roadway near Lake City.

The Tennessee Highway Patrol said the accident occurred shortly before 1 a.m. Sunday on Offutt Spur Road when 43-year-old Harold B. Hensley Jr. had been headed west on Offutt Spur. [Read more…]

Anderson high school student killed, another injured In Norris crash

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Information from WYSH Radio

An Anderson County High School senior was killed in a Monday afternoon traffic accident in Norris, and another teen was flown by a Lifestar helicopter to the University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville.

The Norris Police Department and Tennessee Highway Patrol responded to the crash shortly before 4:30 pm Monday at the intersection of Andersonville Highway and Norris Freeway.

Cameron Sharp, 17, of Andersonville was killed in the wreck, and Evan Weaver, 18, also an ACHS senior and also from Andersonville, was injured. No update on his condition has been made available.

[Read more…]

Clinton woman dies one week after three-car, head-on collision

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Three Car Collision on Oliver Springs Highway

Alberta Farrer, a 56-year-old Clinton resident and one of three drivers in a Nov. 1 head-on collision on Oliver Springs Highway, died Thursday morning at the University of Tennessee Medical Center. (Photo by Tom Scott)

A Clinton woman died early Thursday, one week after a head-on collision that involved three cars on Oliver Springs Highway, authorities said.

Alberta Farrer, 56, died at 4 a.m. Thursday at University of Tennessee Medical Center, the Tennessee Highway Patrol said.

Charges and citations are pending against one of the drivers, 55-year-old Danny Bean of Clinton, the THP said.

Bean allegedly crossed the center line while driving southbound in a Toyota 4-Runner on Oliver Springs Highway at Thursday, Nov. 1, causing a head-on collision with a Hyundai Elantra driven by Farrer, the THP said.

A Chevrolet pickup driven by Travis Gallaher, 19, of Oliver Springs, was behind Farrer, headed toward Oliver Springs. Gallaher braked and swerved left to avoid the crash, but the collision between Bean’s SUV and Farrer’s car pushed the two vehicles toward Gallaher’s truck and the pickup hit Farrer’s Elantra on the driver’s side.

Farrer and a passenger, Pat Smith, a 62-year-old Clinton resident, were flown by medical helicopter to the University of Tennessee Medical Center, according to an accident report last week. Bean was taken by ambulance to the UT hospital, and Gallaher was taken to a local hospital by a personal vehicle.

The accident occurred at 5:53 p.m. Nov. 1 near Marlow Circle and Anderson Memorial Gardens on Oliver Springs Highway, which is also known as State Route 61.

Emergency responders from several local agencies responded. The accident is being investigated by THP Trooper Anthony Lay.

Oliver Springs woman injured in rollover accident on Illinois Avenue

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North Illinois Avenue Rollover Accident

An Oliver Springs woman was ejected from her car during a single-vehicle accident on North Illinois Avenue on Monday morning. (Photo by Tom Scott)

An Oliver Springs woman was ejected from her car in a single-vehicle rollover accident on North Illinois Avenue on Monday morning, the Tennessee Highway Patrol said.

Samantha Henry, 31, was flown by a Lifestar helicopter to the University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville after the 10:05 a.m. accident, said THP Sgt. William Bruce.

[Read more…]