Woman escapes without serious injury Tuesday rollover crash

Tuesday, August 29, 2017
A Heritage Lake area woman was not seriously injured Tuesday morning when the car she was driving collided head on with a utility pole and rolled in a beanfield north of Fillmore.
Courtesy Putnam County Sheriff's Department

FILLMORE — With safety equipment in use, a Heritage Lake-area woman was fortunate to escape without serious injury in an single-vehicle accident Tuesday morning.

At 5:54 a.m., local emergency agencies were dispatched to County Road 150 North in northern Marion Township.

Capt. Tom Helmer of the Putnam County Sheriff’s Department reported that personnel arrived to find a Duke utility pole snapped and a 2013 Chevrolet Malibu on its side, several rows into a beanfield.

Although the driver, 19-year-old Chloey George, was not seriously injured, a Tuesday-morning wreck left a Duke power pole snapped in half and the sedan George was driving totaled, on its side in a beanfield.
Courtesy Putnam County Sheriff's Department

Already out of the vehicle, walking around, was 19-year-old Chloey Jo George of Coatesville.

George told Helmer she was unsure what had happened, but that she had been traveling southwest shen she lost control.

The car left the north side of the roadway, entering a ditch and colliding head on with the power pole.

The impact snapped the pole as the car continued into the field. At some point, the vehicle dug into the ground and flipped at least once before coming to rest on the passenger side facing northeast.

The passenger side front corner of the vehicle was heavily damaged, with the right front wheel actually coming off in the impact.

Unlike her car, George escaped without serious injury. She signed a statement of release with Operation Life, although her boyfriend then took her to the hospital for further evaluation.

Helmer noted that George was wearing her seat belt and that the airbags deployed.

“She’s very lucky,” the veteran law officer said.

George estimated that she was going 55 mph in the 45 mph zone, although Helmer believes the speed may have been higher, considering the level of impact.

The wreck occurred in a long stretch without houses, so Helmer believed the only power outage was to the nearby railroad crossing signal.

Emergency crews that included Helmer, Deputy Scott Ducker, Operation Life, Fillmore Volunteer Fire Department, Duke Energy and Kenny’s Wrecker Service, remained on scene for about 90 minutes, recovering the vehicle and replacing the pole.

During this time, traffic was reduced to a single lane.

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