Today William Coning, a resident of Greenback, was awarded the “Saved by the Belt” award by the Tennessee Highway Safety Office.
William was involved in a motor vehicle accident in March of 2022. Will was traveling North on State Route 95 when, likely due to heavy rain and slick roadway conditions, his vehicle left the right side of the roadway and began traveling in a ditch. When he attempted to steer the vehicle out of the ditch, he overcorrected and caused the vehicle to travel off the left side of the roadway, down a steep embankment, overturning and coming to rest on its top, almost completely submerged in a deep creek.
Unfortunately no one witnessed the crash and Will, who was trapped inside the vehicle for over an hour, was unable to call for help. A nearby Greenback resident overheard a horn blowing occasionally and, being concerned, called 911 to request an officer respond to the area. Deputies were soon able to locate Will and able to enter the water and make contact and assess his condition. Greenback Firefighters arrived on scene and were able to extricate him from the wreckage.
William is lucky to be alive following a crash that likely was contributed to rain and wet roadways, thanks to wearing his seatbelt and a Greenback resident who heard a horn blowing and alerted Loudon County E-911 Operators.
A true testament that seatbelt’s save lives.
