Two Killed In Sequatchie County Wreck

You can still see the signs of the accident that left two people dead and sent another to the hospital along Highway 28--chalk marks, oil stains, and the tracks and debris still remain.

"Upon arrival," says Sequatchie County Sheriff Ronnie Hitchcock, "we found two vehicles that were involved in a head on collision."

We tracked down the two trucks involved in the accident.  Both now are just pieces of twisted metal.

"It's sad because we had our stats down for the year.  We were doing real good, now we have two fatalities," says the Sheriff.

What Hitchcock and the department are trying to figure out right now is what led to the accident.  They do know alcohol was found on scene.  And they do know both trucks were in the same lane when the crash happened.

The Tennessee Highway Patrol will be out along Highway 28 tomorrow to try to reconstruct the scene.

"That much damage, and that much involvement of g-force and everything, it's hard to survive a wreck like that with a head-on collission," Hitchcock says.

But the wreck was so bad, they're still unsure who's at fault.  And it's the latest wreck on a stretch of straight road in Sequatchie County.

"We've had less fatalities on these winding roads, than on roads like (Highway) 28 and (Highway) 111," says the Sheriff.

Hitchcock says people are losing their guard on straight roads like these.  And he's stressing the importance of following the basic rules of the road, no matter what kind of road you're on, saying, "slow down, watch your speed, look at the big picture.  it may not always be what's in front of you, it may be what's on your left, or right or in your rear-view mirror," he says.

The two men killed have been identified as 54-year-old Randy Bridges of Pikeville and 42-year-old Christopher Yeargen of Lenoir City.  Another person was taken to Erlanger.