Jonesborough Man Dies In Crash On Foggy 11E

By BILL JONES
Staff Writer
The driver of a compact car died about 7 a.m. today when the vehicle collided with a Greene County school bus on fog-shrouded U.S. 11E near the Chuckey Post Office in eastern Greene County.

Late this morning, the Tennessee Highway Patrol identified the victim as Paul L. Hammett, 29, of Conklin Road, Jonesborough.

However, Greene County Medical Investigator Ray Crum said he understood that Hammett had recently moved to Blackberry Lane in Afton.

None of the 38 students aboard the school bus driven by Ronald Jennings were suspected to be seriously injured, according to emergency personnel at the scene. However, one child had complained of neck and back pain at the scene, emergency workers said.

The student was taken by private vehicle to a Greeneville hospital.

The school bus was said to be carrying students bound for Chuckey Elementary School, Chuckey-Doak Middle School and Chuckey-Doak High School.

At about 7:45 a.m., the students were being transferred to other school buses to complete the journey to their schools. However, school personnel were said to still be at the accident scene at 9:15 a.m.
The fatal crash remained under investigation by the Tennessee Highway Patrol.

Emergency workers at the scene told a Greeneville Sun photographer that the accident apparently occurred as the school bus was attempting to cross U.S. 11E from Chuckey Ruritan Road.

A 1994 Honda Accord bearing a Washington County license plate that had been traveling toward Johnson City apparently had struck the left rear corner of the bus as it crossed the northbound lanes of U.S. 11E.

After colliding with the bus, which came to a stop in a median cross-over point after the crash, the car appeared to have veered across the median of the four-lane highway and struck a guardrail beside the southbound traffic lanes of U.S. 11E, emergency personnel said.

Volunteers from the Greeneville Emergency & Rescue Squad freed the trapped driver’s body from the wreckage of the car after he was determined to be deceased.

Greene County-Greeneville Emergency Medical Services, the Tusculum and Limestone Volunteer Fire Departments, the Greeneville Emergency & Rescue Squad, the Greene County Sheriff’s Department also responded to the accident scene.

The accident remained  under investigation late this morning by Trooper David Good along with a THP Critical Incident Response Team and the THP’s Criminal Investigation Division.