A Washington County man was killed early Monday when his car slid on an isolated patch of ice and he hit a tractor trailer head-on on Tenn. Highway 107, officials said.
Leonard Yates Jr., 53, 133 Deakins Creek Rd., died in the early-morning crash that happened at 5:40 a.m. as he was on his way to work at Mountainview Bakery, Washington County Sheriff’s Lt. Eddie Graybeal Jr., said. Yates and his wife apparently run the Mountainview store in Greene County.
“The preliminary investigation does not show anything except weather related. W’ere still investigating,” Graybeal said.
For some reason, the section of Highway 107 near Jackson Bridge Road was icy, Graybeal said.
“I was 43 degrees in Jonesborough and above freezing everywhere, but the road he was on was completely covered in a sheet of ice,” Graybeal said. “When he came around the curve, he lost control and slid into the front of a tractor trailer.”
Graybeal said the ice was only on the section of 107 at Jackson Bridge Road and in a couple of curves through that section.
While officers were on scene, another car slid on the ice and crashed into the back of the tractor trailer. That driver was not injured, Graybeal said.
“After they advised me of the road conditions, I called TDOT to put up signs and close the road while were down there,” he said.
The driver of the tractor trailer was Roger A. Elhage, 61, 220 Wolf Lane, Bulls Gap. He was not injured in the crash.