Six were injured – including three children – during a Monday morning crash on Viola Highway.
The driver, Marcus Boren, 30, and his fiancé Veronica Gault, 26, were both airlifted to Vanderbilt University Medical Center from the scene of the accident. Backseat passenger Krista Hilliard, 26, was airlifted to Erlanger Medical Center.
They were all seriously injured, but their injuries are not believed to be life-threatening. Gault’s children, ages 4 through 8, were taken to River Park by the Warren County Emergency Ambulance Service for treatment of noncritical injuries.
According to Highway Patrolman Bruce Pryor, the accident happened around 11 a.m. Monday on Highway 108 (Viola Highway) just south of its intersection with Shellsford Road.
A preliminary investigation revealed Boren was traveling south when he lost control of the car, swerving across the oncoming lane of traffic before overcorrecting and running off the southbound shoulder. It was there the car ran into a driveway culvert causing heavy damage to the vehicle and leaving the wreckage in the southbound ditch line.
“The kids were screaming so we got them out of the car,” said one witness who saw the car hit the ditch after it was launched into the air after hitting the culvert. The wreck covered 211 feet from the time the driver lost control until the car came to rest in the ditch.
Investigators believe Boren became distracted for some reason which led to his running off the road. It is not known what distracted him. Trooper Pryor added that no one, including the children, were wearing seatbelts although airbags did deploy.