March 28, 2018
By: Dwayne Page
A Smithville man was seriously injured in a pickup truck crash Tuesday night on Dale Ridge Road (Highway 96) about a mile from Highway 70.
According to Trooper Sean Tramel of the Tennessee Highway Patrol, 70 year old Robert Page was driving south in a 1993 Nissan pickup truck when he went off the edge of the roadway while going around a curve. As the truck slid sideways, Page overcorrected and the vehicle clipped the end of a guardrail before going down an embankment. The truck then crashed into a tree.
Although there were no eye witnesses to the wreck, Trooper Tramel said Richard Summers, a resident closeby, heard the crash but didn’t see the truck at first when he went outside his home to investigate. A short while later, Summers spotted the truck from the lights of a passing car on the highway and alerted authorities.
Members of the DeKalb County Volunteer Fire Department and Rescue Team were summoned to the scene to perform extrication as Page was trapped in the truck.
Page was taken by DeKalb EMS from the scene to a helicopter landing zone on Highway 70 at the top of Snow Hill. From there he was airlifted to Erlanger Hospital in Chattanooga.
Members of the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Department were also at the scene of the crash to provide traffic control and other assistance.
The investigation was conducted by Trooper Tramel and THP Sergeant Eric McCormick. Trooper Tramel said Page was wearing his seatbelt.