Slick bridge causes wrecks: Crews respond to three crashes within an hour
By Wes Wade | (wes.wade@thedailytimes.com)
An icy bridge on Alcoa Highway just north of Pellissippi Parkway appears to have caused three accidents Saturday afternoon, only one of which resulted in an occupant being taken to the hospital.
All three wrecks occurred in the same hour and in the same area, according to Alcoa Police reports.
The first wreck involved 54-year-old Memphis Donnell Warren and 53-year-old Greenback resident Wesley Ratliff, whose vehicles collided after Warren’s vehicle lost control on the icy bridge over Pellissippi Parkway. Both vehicles were traveling north.
Warren’s vehicle traveled from the left lane into the right lane, where Ratliff’s vehicle was traveling at the time of the crash, which occurred at around 12:17 p.m. A passenger in Ratliff’s vehicle was also uninjured.
The second incident involved 19-year-old Alpharetta, Ga., resident and 49-year-old Maynardville resident Gregory Evans. Thornton was northbound in a pickup on Alcoa Highway crossing the Pellissippi Parkway bridge at around 12:51 p.m., the report states. Evans was traveling south in another truck approaching the bridge when Thornton’s vehicle lost control on ice, slid sideways across the center divider and was struck in the side by Evans’ truck. Thornton’s vehicle was then flipped onto its side. An 18-year-old passenger in Thornton’s vehicle was not injured. All occupants were wearing seat belts and air bags were not deployed in either vehicle.
Evans was transported via Rural/Metro Ambulance Service to University of Tennessee Medical Center, though hospital staff had no patient information available.
The final crash in that area occurred about three minutes later, when a Ford Crown Victoria was traveling north in the left lane across the bridge. The driver, Lacy Brianne Hubbs, 23, Airway Ridge, Louisville, told police she lost control of her vehicle from the snow and ice on the bridge. Her vehicle spun and struck a Ford Focus in the right lane driven by Clarence Paul Bettis, 47, of Sevierville. The collision caused both vehicles to leave the right side of the road. There were no other occupants in either vehicle and both drivers were wearing seat belts.
