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Tennessee Man Charged After Highway 97 Wreck
December 6, 2009
(Updated) A Tennessee man that received minor injuries in a Highway 97 wreck Sunday morning now faces charges from the Florida Highway Patrol.
Marty L. Johnson, 42, of Elizabethton, Tennessee, said he was trying to dodge a deer when he ran off the road , through a fence and into a tree with his 2001 Chevrolet pickup. There was a freshly killed coyote in the road at the scene of the accident on Highway 97 just south of North Highway 99 about 6:50 Sunday morning. Johnson was transported by ambulance to Atmore Community Hospital with minor injuries.
Johnson was charged with careless driving and driving with a suspended license, according to the FHP.
The Walnut Hill Station of Escambia Fire Rescue, Atmore Ambulance and the Florida Highway Patrol responded to the crash.
Pictured above: A Tennessee man was injured in this Highway 97 crash Sunday morning. NorthEscambia.com photo, click to enlarge.
Comments
12 Responses to “Tennessee Man Charged After Highway 97 Wreck”
yeah this is my families property and i like how we didnt know anything about it!
I agree with the over all consensus of the comments here, except I feel that I need to come to the defense of the “Truck Drivers” as they have been referred to in some of these comments. It seems that everyone who drives a pickup truck is being thrown under the bus over the actions of a few. Speeding, tail gating, and other forms of careless driving does need to be stopped. Big truck drivers are also getting a bad rsp these days from the actions of a few. It seems that if an eighteen wheeler, or a pickup truck is in an accident, it is automaticaly their fault. I also agree that there are major issues and dangers with wildlife on the roads. As more and more people move to the north end, and I really can’t blame them for doing so, these types of accidents are going to get more frequent. I have rambled on enough. Thank all of you for your comments, I enjoy reading all of the different opinions, and thank you William for allowing us to share our ideas and opinions with each other.
I am glad to see that I’m not the only one who thinks Hwy. 97 a very unsafe road. I don’t know what needs to be done but SOMETHING really needs to be done before someone else is killed. If things keep going like they are now someone may not live to enjoy Christmas. Slowing down, not tail gating, not passing in a no passing zone , these simple things could save a life.
Changing the angle of your rearview mirror does NOT reflect the light back to the driver behind you, that is merely a myth. A rearview mirror contains two mirrors with an angle between them (one tilted up more than the other). The front one is partially silvered, probably 80-90%. This reflects most of the light and is the mirror you use in the daytime; it also reflects away most of the light at night, allowing only some to pass through and reflect off the second mirror, behind. At night, you tilt the entire mirror assembly so that the second mirror is the one that gives the correct rear view, but the first mirror reflects a large percentage of the light to a point above your eyes, so you only see a dimmed rear view.
Friday night I was coming down hwy 4 just before getting to Bratt and a deer run right out in front of me. I could not even see the bottom of his legs over my hood before he finally made it across the road. My car was trying slide and it scared me to death, it seem to come out of no where!! I will not hit a deer if I can help it, because my friend did 17 yrs ago and he still can barely talk and function, so I’d rather mess up my car. Who is to say if you hit a deer that you still won’t wreck your car. Everytime you turn around someone is wrecking over a deer, but our laws are set to protect them. You are only allowed to kill so many a season and if you are caught killing one out of season you get in as much, are more trouble, than you would if you kill a person. I do not deer hunt, do not eat them and hate to see them killed, but it seems to me that they need thinning out. I saw over 50 along hwy 31 from Bay Minette to Atmore in one night!!
IF YOU ARE GOING TO HAVE A WRECK, WHERE EVER YOU HAVE IT, DON’T HAVE IT IN FLORIDA. THEN YOU’LL HAVE TO PAY TO HAVE YOUR TRUCK FIXED AND FOR A TRAFFIC TICKET. MAYBE THEY SHOULD FIND THE DEER AND CHARGE HIM WITH WRECKLESS RUNNING. MAKES ABOUT AS MUCH SENSE.
Thank you so much for backing me up about the truck drivers on 97.
Sometimes I feel like I’m the only person on that road that isn’t crazy.
For a while I even tried running from them. But I knew that wasn’t
right, and what I found out is they liked that, and would wait for me
at the Tom Thumb and come out when I went by and hurrasse me all
the way to town. I changed my car and my time to no avail.
Now I go to town 1 1/2 hours early to avoid them.
Sometimes it works sometimes it doesn’t.
I don’t know what is wrong with them.
My husband just says their bullies who like to shove women around,
as they have never done it to him.
I also know they pass on the no passing lane all the time.
I really feel it is totally lawless in molino.
My home has been robbed 3 times since we moved here.
Picture me non plussed because I do all kinds of charity work
up here and have no idea why they do this. Where I came from
we left our doors unlocked.
The first person I had work on my house told me to STOP THAT in
no uncertain terms.
No their are pad locks even on the guest house.
all drivers need to remember that there is more than one pedal on the drivers side floor. I tend to tap my brakes when someone follows too close or tries to intimidate me to go faster. as far as lights, yes the trucks sit higher and shine right at the correct level to blind a car driver. I adjust my mirrors to reflect the light right back at them, for me this has worked 100% of the time. they realize they are blinding you and slow down. don’t ever put yourself in danger and feel forced to speed up. the other drivers can always pass you, and often do even if it is a no passing zone. also don’t follow my advice if you think it is unsafe, I am just saying that is what works for me because the drivers in trucks have been known to drive the way they were described.
That coyote was dead when I came thru at 4:50 on my way to work.
The truck drivers on highway 97 are terrible, even in the early morning
hours.
They run up on you in their large pick up trucks and get about 5′ off your
bumper trying to make you go faster or scare the wits out of you, I’m
not sure which. If you have to turn into your subdivision they won’t slow
down and you find yourself taking the turn to fast. Their headlights are
much higher than cars and they know this so when they pull up on
you they blind you with the reflection in your rearview mirrors.
They hunt all night long up here, even out of season.
This accident doesn’t supprise me at all, and I’m not really sure I
buy his story of how it happened.
This girl has seen too much up here to take this at face value.
Besides who believes someone who drives with no license, and that
means he also had no insurance.
What if he had put a child being taking to day care in the early morning
hours in the hospital, how would he have paid for that, and who would
have paid for the parents car.
Thank god this just involved property and his own stupid neck!
It sounds like he thought the coyote was a deer and he did hit it.
Next time hit the deer. You may do less damage to your truck.