BEDFORD COUNTY, TN - A lot of drivers can say they've driven a year or two without the slightest of fender benders on their record, but few can say they've driven 100-thousand miles without a single collision.
To give listeners a better idea of how prevalent auto accidents are in the community we call home, WGNS decided to take a look at driving statistics from the state of Tennessee. We quickly learned that between January of 2010 and June 30th of this year (2023), there have been 127,088 motor vehicle accidents in Rutherford County. During that time, 420 of the accidents involved a fatality, 33,708 of the accidents involved an injury and 92,960 collisions resulted in property damage that added up to $400 or more (State numbers do not include accidents that involved $399 or less in property damage).
Now that you've got an idea of how common vehicle crashes are in your own backyard, imagine driving five-million miles... accident free. One local driver has pulled that feat off - - while driving a big rig!
It's incredibly rare for any driver to achieve such a milestone of driving five-million accident-free miles, and it's even more rare for that driver's accomplishment to happen while employed at the same company.
Looking back to last year, Larry Hamilton hit 4-million accident-free miles while driving an 18-wheeler. This year, he increased his mileage to 5-million accident-free miles. His blemish-free driving record was accomplished during his 39th year of employment at Shelbyville's Nationwide Express that is now under the name of Jones Logistics.
Hamilton will be celebrated during a company Driver Appreciation Event that takes place this Saturday (September 23, 2023) at Jones Logistics in Shelbyville. Oh, in case you're curious... neighboring Bedford County was home to 15,195 vehicle accidents over the past 13-years and Hamilton was not a part of those statistics.
Congratulations to Larry Hamilton in Shelbyville on not only 5-million accident free miles, but also for his 39th anniversarry at the local logistics company.