A camper collided with a tractor-trailer about 8 a.m. Saturday in the northbound lane of Interstate 75 just north of the Hiwassee River, according to the Tennessee Highway Patrol.
According to the THP, the driver of a recreational vehicle swerved off the roadway and struck a tractor-trailer parked on the shoulder just north of the river. The truck had been pulled over by a state trooper for a check, according to THP Public Information Officer Dalya Qualls.
THP Sgt. Phillip Dunn, who investigated the crash, said the camper driven by Leroy Lemmon, 78, of Naples, Fla., missed the police cruiser pulled up behind the truck. The driver of the RV, who was thrown from the vehicle, was airlifted to Erlanger hospital, where he was listed in serious condition Saturday evening.
Trooper Cameron Azbill, who had stopped the tractor-trailer but was sitting in his patrol car, was not injured.
Also unhurt were the truck’s occupants, driver Mahmood Y. Gajem, 31, of Gahanna, Ohio, and passenger Sharyi E. Yousef, 33, of Fountain Valley, Calif., the THP reported.
Northbound traffic was diverted off I-75 at exit 33 and back onto the interstate at exit 36 until about 1 p.m., Ms. Qualls said.
No charges have been filed, but the THP’s Crash Incident Reconstruction Team is investigating, Ms. Qualls said.