A multivehicle collision around 3:30 a.m. Wednesday on the northbound side of Interstate 75 south of Charleston, Tennessee, has shut down all northbound traffic for at least another few minutes, according to the Tennessee Highway Patrol.
Highway Patrol Lt. Bobby Clevenger, the Chattanooga district's spokesperson, said Wednesday in a telephone interview there were no fatalities and only one injury in the crash and that was to the driver of a commercial vehicle to strike an overhead sign near mile marker 30 in Bradley County.
Clevenger said the crash involved a total of four commercial vehicles all traveling north early Wednesday.
"The first tractor-trailer ran off the left side of the roadway, hit a guardrail and then hit one of those big overhead signs on the interstate. When he hit that, it fell partially down," Clevenger said.
"The other three [commercial vehicles] hit the sign and debris," he said. The other three trucks came to rest in the traffic lanes.
According to a preliminary crash report, Nicolai Solonari, 34, of Frisco, Texas, was driving a 2022 Volvo big rig that was the initial vehicle in the crash.
The second truck listed in the report was a 2022 Freightliner driven by Melvin Moore, 72, of Hattisburg, Mississippi; the third was a 2016 Freightliner driven by Jeffery Kindred, 51, of McDonough, Georgia; and the fourth was a 2016 International driven by James Gooch, 56, of Cleveland, Georgia, the preliminary crash report states.
All of the drivers were wearing seat belts, according to the report. Solonari was cited for failing to exercise due care and failure to maintain his lane, the report states.
The incident occurred on I-75 between Paul Huff Parkway and Lauderdale Memorial Highway, according to the Tennessee Department of Transportation's SmartWay Traffic website.
Traffic cameras showed vehicles being diverted onto Paul Huff Parkway and on to U.S. Highway 11.
At 8:45 a.m., Clevenger said one northbound lane should be open by 9:15 a.m.
- Compiled by Colin M. Stewart and Ben Benton