THP: 5 crashes this year on road of fatal accident
This video is no longer available.
HARDIN COUNTY, Tenn. — The Tennessee Highway Patrol said the Tuesday accident that killed a fireman and a logger is the fifth one on that stretch of road in one year. “It definitely makes you think to slow down before you go down that road,” said Levi Copeland, who drives down Holland Creek Road at least three times a week. He said many drivers call it dangerous. “It’s very curvy,” Copeland said. Lt. Brad Wilbanks with the THP said Tuesday’s crash marks five in one year. “It’s a narrow road, but it has a rather high volume of traffic for a rural road like that,” Wilbanks said. The THP determined firefighter Gus Losleben was responding to a call when he crossed the double line, hitting a logging truck. “In this scenario you’ve got two professional drivers,” Wilbanks said. “A professional truck driver and a fire truck operator that I’m sure has been trained in emergency vehicle operation.” Copeland said as for other drivers, people tend to speed on the winding road. “It does have a bunch of tight curves on it, but I’ve never had a problem out of it personally, but I know a lot of people definitely fly up and down it,” he said. Wilbanks said he thinks it is a matter of two people in the wrong place at the wrong time. “From my experience, I don’t think speed was a factor in this crash,” he said. “It’s just two large vehicles and a bad stretch of roadway. They met one another.” Copeland said now when he drives down the road he will remember this devastating crash. “It definitely makes you think to slow down before you go down that road,” Copeland said. Wilbanks said three of the five crashes involved injuries. He said the THP’s Critical Incident Response Team will investigate the accident further on Thursday.
