By Dave Pearce
A two-vehicle accident on Highway 66 just west of St. Phillips Road at Parker’s Settlement has left two people hospitalized.
The accident, which shut down highway 66 for over an hour, occurred when a Ford Taurus, being driven by 23-year-old Lauren Womack, of Middle Mount Vernon Road of Evansville, collided head-on with a Chevy Trailblazer, being driven by 50-year-old Lyndon Amos of Fairfield, Ill.
Amos’ mother, Margaret Amos, 80, of Grayville, Ill., had to be extricated from the vehicle and was in critical condition on Sunday at Deaconess Hospital in Evansville. She suffered multiple fractures. She was in surgery on Sunday afternoon. The Amos family was reportedly on their way to visit the father of the man driving the vehicle. The father was in Deaconess hospital and had been a surgery patient.
According to bystanders, the accident happened so quickly that no one could say exactly what happened to cause it.
In a preliminary report, it appears that the vehicle being driven by Womack was west-bound on Highway 66 and the Amos vehicle was east-bound. It appears that both vehicles had crossed the center-line as the impact was on the passenger side of both the vehicles.
According to an officer at the scene, Womack was apparently distracted by a seven-month-old child in the back seat of her vehicle and her vehicle crossed over the center line. The driver of the Amos vehicle reportedly thought the Womack vehicle was preparing to turn into a driveway and swerved the opposite direction to try and get around the vehicle.
The Womack child was properly restrained in a child seat in the back seat of the vehicle and escaped with only a small scratch on his chin, which was believed to have been caused by a pacifier.
“The child seat did exactly what it was supposed to do,” an officer on the scene said.
Womack was taken to the hospital by her husband, once he arrived at the scene.
Responders from Marrs Township, Wadesville, and New Harmony fire departments were called to the scene.