Woman Airlifted After Car Slams into Tree

A Smithville woman was seriously injured Monday night when her car left the road and crashed into a tree on Highway 56 near Hurricane Bridge.
Central dispatch received the call at 7:15 p.m.
Trooper Jeremy Wilhite of the Tennessee Highway Patrol told WJLE that 59 year old Belinda Rose Williams was driving toward Smithville in a 1998 Oldmobile Intrigue when she failed to negotiate a curve just past Hurricane Bridge. The car went off the left side of the highway and into the wood line where she struck a tree. Though partially ejected, Williams was trapped in the car.
Members of the DeKalb County Volunteer Fire Department’s Extrication Team were called to the scene. They removed the driver side door and pried the dashboard to help free Williams from the car. She was taken by DeKalb EMS to meet a Life Flight helicopter ambulance which landed near the scene. Williams was then flown to Vanderbilt Hospital in Nashville. She is believed to have suffered broken bones and possibly other injuries.
Members of the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Department and Cookeville Highway and Short Mountain Highway Stations of the DeKalb County Volunteer Fire Department were also on the scene.