Officers say seat belt likely saved Huntingdon teen in crash with tractor-trailer

HUNTINGDON, Tenn. — Officers are crediting a seat belt and side airbag as likely saving the life of a teenager after a crash involving a tractor-trailer earlier this week.

The wreck occurred just before 7:30 a.m. Tuesday when the tractor-trailer struck an SUV at the intersection of the Huntingdon bypass and Buena Vista Road, according to a release from Director of Public Safety Walter Smothers.

The driver of the SUV, a 16-year-old on her way to nearby Huntingdon High School, was not seriously injured. The driver of the truck also was not injured.

A witness told officers the driver of the truck didn’t stop, according to the release. The truck driver reportedly said he had been looking at his GPS device and didn’t see the stop coming.

“I want to take this opportunity to remind people that while intersections make up only a small percentage of our miles of streets and highways, they are where the greatest majority of crashes occur,” Smothers says in the release. “Never take it for granted that the other cars approaching are going to stop, [and] only proceed through an intersection when you KNOW it is safe.”