Lebanon, TN : Woman killed and 2 children injured in a single-vehicle crash on I-40 Wilson County on Wednesday, December 2, 2015

A woman was killed and two children were injured in a single-vehicle crash in Lebanon.

According to the Tennessee Highway Patrol, 27-year-old Leonna Strong was driving on Interstate 40 East when she went off the left side of the road and into the median near mile marker 235 just after midnight Wednesday.

Strong over-corrected, causing her BMW X5 to overturn. She and her two passengers, a 5-year-old girl and a 7-year-old girl, were all ejected.

According to THP, no one in the car was properly restrained, and they believe this would have made a difference.

“It’s tragic,” said Kendell Poole, director of the Governor’s Highway Safety Office. “Unfortunately, we hear those stories virtually every day in the state of Tennessee. We are sitting on 850 fatalities already this year, or close to it.”

There is no word on the condition of the two girls. Strong was killed in the crash.

Alcohol and drug tests have been requested.

Poole said the usage rate for seat belts in Tennessee is more than 86 percent, but more than half of those killed on the roads annually were not wearing a seat belt.

“Half of our fatalities are coming from that 14 percent of the population who are not wearing their seat belt,” Poole said. “A seat belt is your best defense in a crash, regardless of whether that crash is your fault or not.”

A new law will go into effect on Jan. 1 that will double the fine for those caught not wearing a seat belt.

“We want people to know that seat belts save lives,” Poole said. “This is about putting money in the city or county coffers. This is about saving lives.”

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Woman killed, 2 children injured in I-40 crash




Lebanon, TN : Woman killed and 2 children injured in a single-vehicle crash on I-40 Wilson County on Wednesday, December 2, 2015