Bus driver in deadly Wednesday wreck cited

By Mark Boxley
of The Daily Times Staff

The driver of a Blount County school bus involved in a fatal accident on East Lamar Alexander Parkway Wednesday was cited with following too closely in conjunction with the crash.

The driver, William Millsaps, 64, Walland, was reportedly driving on the roadway toward Maryville when a minivan in front of him stopped to turn left into a residence at about 4:47 p.m. According to information from the Tennessee Highway Patrol, Millsaps said he did not have enough time to stop and swerved into oncoming traffic to miss the turning van, which was driven by Maryville resident Thomas Pitzer, 73.

The bus then hit a black 2002 Honda Accord driven by Melissa Nelams, 42, Lafayette, La., that was driving the opposite direction toward Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Nelams vehicle ended up behind the minivan and was hit a second time by a 2003 Honda CRV driven by Richard Petsch, 47, Louisville. Petsch’s vehicle was also driving toward Maryville on East Lamar Alexander Parkway. After the impact with Nelams’ vehicle, Petsch’s Honda went off the road into a ditch and came to rest more than 10 feet below the roadway.

Nelams was taken by Lifestar to University of Tennessee Medical Center where she was pronounced dead. Two passengers in her vehicle, Taylor Nelams, 16, and Weston Nelams, 13, were taken by Rural/Metro Ambulance Service to Blount Memorial Hospital where they were treated and released. Petsch was also taken by Rural/Metro to Blount Memorial Hospital. He was treated and released.

Melissa, Taylor and Weston Nelams were on their way to visit Ripley’s Aquarium of the Smokies in Gatlinburg, according to information from the THP.

Millsaps and Pitzer were not injured in the accident. There were no children on the school bus.

The Blount County Sheriff’s Office, THP, Blount County Fire Department, Townsend Area Volunteer Fire Department and Blount County Volunteer Rescue Squad responded to the scene.