MCMINNVILLE, Tenn. — A woman was killed on her way to a job interview Thursday afternoon when she crossed the centerline on Nashville Highway near Warren County Memorial Airport.
The woman, Stephanie Harris, 26, of Centertown died at the scene of the crash that happened around 12:30 p.m. Thursday.
The driver of the car she collided with, Bobbie Jo Dyer, 33, of Cummings, Ga., was treated at River Park Hospital for a fractured arm. Her mother and passenger, Connie Holt, 57, was airlifted to Erlanger Medical Center in Chattanooga by AirOne helicopter that made its landing at the nearby airport.
According to Highway Patrolman Gary Myers, Harris was heading east, toward McMinnville, in a 2001 Dodge Stratus on Nashville Highway when she lost control for unknown reasons and ran off the east shoulder of the road. She then came back onto the road and overcorrected, causing the vehicle to cross into the oncoming westbound lane directly into the path of Dyer’s 2013 Chevy Equinox. She was struck broadside, with the high-speed impact leaving the other car inside the passenger compartment of the Harris vehicle as they came to rest on the westbound shoulder.
Investigators are unsure what caused Harris to lose control. However, it was noted the wreck did happen in a curve which has seen its share of bad accidents over the years. Alcohol and drugs are not suspected. Harris was heading to a local factory to finalize a job she was being hired for when the fatal accident happened.
Traffic was diverted around the wreck for several hours. Cars were allowed to travel on the new, yet unopened, Nashville Highway. The new highway is scheduled to open this fall.