December 1, 2003

County man dies in wreck

       A head-on collision on State Road 135 killed a Trafalgar man Sunday night and left the other driver with serious injuries.  Vernon C. Peavey, 64, of Trafalgar died in the two-car wreck on State Road 135, north of Demaree Road (County Road 750N) in White River Township.  Peavey was driving a 1995 Dodge Ram southbound and collided with a northbound 2003 GMC Yukon, driven by Karen S. Smith, 54, of Martinsville, about 5:02 p.m.  The impact caused Peavey’s truck to go off the road and down the embankment.   Peavey was pronounced dead at the scene. White River Township firefighters spent about an hour cutting Smith from the wreckage of her SUV.  Smith was wearing a seat belt; Peavey was not.  Because of leg and internal injuries, Smith was flown by Lifeline helicopter to Methodist Hospital.  According to Maj. Randy Werden, road commander of the Johnson County Sheriff’s Department, the truck and SUV hit nearly head-on, with the point of impact on their front-quarter panels.  One of the drivers was clearly on the wrong side of the road, but accident investigators have not yet determined which one.  They are still interviewing witnesses, Werden said.   No other vehicles or passengers were involved in the fatal crash.  Cleaning up the wreckage from the accident shut down State Road 135 for four hours, Werden said.  (Reprinted with permission from the Daily Journal)

        
(Click on thumbnail to enlarge photo)

 

---