Rainy days and wrecks

LISA HOBBS

News Editor

Rain may have contributed to three wrecks that happened back-to-back on Wednesday.

McMinnville Police Officer Zach Little says he just completed working a wreck on North Chancery Street in the area of Cleaner’s Express, when a second and third followed - all in less than 40 minutes of one another and on that same street.

“The first wreck occurred at 12:40,” he stated. “The second one was at 12:53. The third was at 1:16.”

The first collision involved a black Genesis driven by Sparta resident Courtney Sullivan, 26. She was traveling northbound towards Walmart when the vehicle in front of her came to a stop.

Warren County Way was at the scene of that one.

Little says Sullivan rear-ended a Buick Encore driven by Tina Heintz, 48, of McMinnville.

“What Ms. Heintz said was that she had stopped with traffic,” said the officer. “There was a car turning left onto Clark Boulevard from Chancery. That’s when Ms. Sullivan hit her. Ms. Sullivan said, when she was approaching, no one had their blinker on, and when she it the brakes, they locked up and she began to slide.”

Sullivan was determined to be the at-fault driver and was cited for due care.

Along with the motorists, the Buick had two juvenile passengers. No major injuries were reported. All four declined transportation by Warren County EMS for complaints of sore necks and backs.

The 12:53 p.m. motor vehicle crash happened 13 minutes later in front of Dunkin. The third, at 1:16 p.m., occurred at the Walmart intersection.

“So, we had three wrecks within about 35 minutes within a mile of each other on the same road. The second one, someone was following too closely in the rain and they slid and rear-ended. Not sure about the third one.”

Little offered these words of wisdom to the driving community, “Slow down and take your time in inclement weather.”