Photo provided of devastating crash
On Monday morning (July 9, 2012) around 7:30am, a head-on collision occurred on the Wattendorf Highway, the AEDC access road. Five people were injured in the two-vehicle crash. According to a report by Tennessee Highway Patrolman Carl Seagroves, a 1998 Nissan Maxima driven by Evan John Smith, 20, of Louisville, Kentucky, drifted off the highway and struck a guardrail.
The car then crossed the center line into the path of a 1996 Chevrolet pickup operated by James Richard Edwards, 45, of Hillsboro. According to the trooper’s report, Smith was the only occupant in the Nissan, and he was apparently on his way to work for a contractor at AEDC.
Smith was flown by Air-Evac to Erlanger Medical Center in Chattanooga where he is undergoing treatment. Edwards and his 3 children, Kristina Edwards, 13, Joseph James Edwards, 10, and James Richard Edwards, Jr., 9, were in the pickup, and all were taken to Medical Center of Manchester.
Troopers Louis Hendricks and Brent McCawley, along with AEDC Police and Coffee County Sheriff’s Deputies, assisted trooper Seagroves.
Emergency crews working at the scene of Monday AEDC crash… Photo by Barry West
Evan John Smith taken to Chattanooga... Photo by Barry West
