Highway 56 wreck injures four
Four people were injured in a head-on crash on Highway 56 North Saturday evening, caused when a teen-age driver tried to pass another vehicle.
The teen driver, Charlie Barnes, 16, sustained facial injuries along with his passengers Bryan Cantrell, 17; and Ricky Stanley, 18. Barnes is charged with reckless driving as investigators determined he was traveling over 80 mph just before the crash.
The driver of the other vehicle, Bertie Reeder, 68, sustained back injuries. None of the injuries sustained by the four are believed to be life-threatening and all were treated at River Park Hospital. All of the victims aside from Barnes are from Smithville. Barnes, now a local resident, formerly hailed from Smithville.
According to Highway Patrolman Mike Tanner, the accident happened around 7:30 p.m. Saturday on Highway 56 North (New Smithville Highway) near Mountain Creek Bridge close to Dibrell.
Preliminary investigation revealed Barnes was traveling toward McMinnville in a Toyota Camry at approximately 80 mph when he came upon a slower-moving vehicle. Barnes reportedly hit his brakes to avoid the vehicle but in doing so his car slid into the oncoming lane, striking Reeder’s Toyota Corolla head-on. Tanner said he measured 360 feet of skid marks up to the impact site, helping him estimate the speed Barnes was traveling just before the wreck. Tanner added Barnes was still going fast enough at impact to push Reeder’s moving vehicle back 30 feet.