Two killed in crashes

Within one hour, two car wrecks claimed the lives of two people in Chattanooga on Wednesday night, police say.

The first wreck happened about 6:30 p.m., when a plum-colored Ford Taurus traveling east bound on Brainerd Road at a high speed slammed into the back of a white sedan waiting in an eastbound turn lane to turn onto Tunnel Boulevard, according to police spokeswoman Sgt. Jerri Weary.

The Taurus then continued across westbound lanes and crashed into a utility pole holding up a sign for Playoffs Sports Bar.

“We heard it all the way inside the bar,” said Dustin Rogers, a cook at Playoffs. Several people ran out of the bar to find the two mangled cars.

“We gave them some towels, and some of our customers offered medical assistance,” Rogers said.

But it was too late to help the elderly woman who had been driving the Taurus. She died en route to the hospital, Weary reported.

“It is possible that she suffered a medical emergency prior to the crash,” Weary said.

The driver of the white sedan was transported to a local hospital with head injuries, but her condition was not known.

The second crash happened an hour later at 7680 Noah Reid Road. Witnesses told police that a Chevrolet Cavalier occupied by two men lost control and veered off the road, striking a tree. The driver was killed upon impact, and the passenger was taken to a local hospital with injuries, including a broken arm, Weary said.

Police are still investigating what caused the car to leave the road, but Weary said speed is a possible factor.

Names of those involved in either wreck were not released Wednesday night pending family notification.