Baxter man killed in traffic accident

Mary Jo Denton
Herald-Citizen Staff

A Baxter man was killed in a traffic accident on Highway 70 just west of Cookeville yesterday.

Michael D. Smith, 31, of Route 3, Baxter, was pronounced dead at the scene of the accident, which happened about 5 p.m. about three miles west of Cookeville at the intersection of Highway 70 and Clemmons Road, according to the Tennessee Highway Patrol.

Smith was driving a 1980 Ford pickup truck, traveling east, according to a report filed by THP Trooper David Bush.

"The vehicle drifted off the right side of the roadway and struck a utility pole head-on," the trooper wrote in his report.

He was not wearing a seatbelt, but a seatbelt would not have made a difference in this accident, the trooper said.

Putnam Ambulance Service medics rushed to the scene, but found that Smith was dead.

He was pinned in the wreckage and medics and rescue workers used the Jaws of Life device to remove him, according to Putnam Ambulance Service officials.

He was an employee of Carwile Construction Co. and was the son of Clarence and Sallie Smith.

An obituary is being published elsewhere in today's Herald-Citizen.

Published Friday, September 04, 1998 12:48 PM CDT

Words From Billy's Mama..