March 11, 2022
By: Dwayne Page
A Smithville woman lost her life in a head on crash Thursday afternoon on Highway 96 near Liberty. Another person was seriously injured.
According to Trooper Bobby Johnson of the Tennessee Highway Patrol 64-year-old Sally Potts was traveling north in a 2002 Honda Civic when she crossed the center line of the highway and into the path of a southbound 2001 Ford F-150 driven by 57-year-old Darryl Meadows of Smithville. Potts died at the scene. Her body was extricated from the mangled car by members of the DeKalb Fire Department extrication and rescue team.
Meadows was taken by DeKalb EMS to Ascension Saint Thomas DeKalb Hospital and later by ground ambulance to Vanderbilt Hospital.
The crash remains under investigation.
Trooper Johnson was assisted in the crash investigation by Trooper Caleb Bain and Sergeant Tracy White. Others on the scene along with DeKalb EMS and the DeKalb Fire Department were members of the Tennessee Department of Transportation and the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Department.
Potts’ death marks the first traffic fatality of 2022 on DeKalb County roads.