One person was injured in an accident Thursday at the Interstate 81 and 40 split that resulted in significant traffic delays.
The wreck occurred around 2:00 PM. An unknown white SUV was traveling toward I-81 and cut in front of a tractor-trailer driven by 49-year-old Mecene Estainvil of Florida to continue on I-40. The tractor-trailer then swerved left to avoid the SUV and struck a second tractor-trailer driven by 27-year-old Daniel Jenkins of Tennessee on the right side of the trailer.
The second tractor-trailer went into a ditch and started to flip over. The vehicle then continued up an embankment and back down onto the roadway on its top. The vehicle then went up another embankment where it came to a final rest on its top under the I-40 overpass. The first tractor-trailer pulled off into the grass median, where it came to a controlled stop. The unknown SUV continued eastbound on I-40.
Jenkins was injured in the accident. Estainvil was not injured. Estainvil was charged with failure to exercise due care.
The Tennessee Highway Patrol investigated the wreck.
