A Midstate mother and daughter were ki*lled on a Wilson County road, and now, a family friend is pushing for safety changes.
In May, Brooke and her 12-year-old daughter August Brashier died in a head-on crash in the 4200 block of East Division Street.
The Tennessee Highway Patrol report said Brooke lost control of her Hyundai Palisade, over-corrected and crossed the center line colliding into a cement truck.
The area has no shoulder or guardrails.
Jessica McCormack was Brooke’s best friend, and she believes the mother and daughter may have survived if certain changes had been made to the road.
“You can see on Facebook all the comments that day, so many people have had such a similar experience. The road is only 22 feet in width for both lanes,” said McCormack. “If I’m in my little Ford Focus it’s fine, but if I’m in a truck or an SUV, anything bigger, driving down that road is so narrow.”
Brooke’s mother, Vici Smith, said life will never be the same for her and her two young grandsons.
“Everything has changed for her two sons. They no longer have her or August, and their lives are just turned upside down. That first, maybe 30 seconds in the morning when I wake-up; before I’m completely awake is the only peace I have now.”
McCormack has been researching and reaching out to elected officials and state departments to see what improvements can be made right now along East Division Street.
She’s spent time with Wilson County Mayor Randall Hutto who is also the chairman of the road commission and said he’s been working on improvements along that road.
“It’s been one that’s been there for a while. I’m surprised as I look at the crash data as well, that there’s not been more there,” Hutto said. “As you look at E. Division there were 96 crashes, two fatalities or serious injuries that was before these two.”
Hutto said the county applied for money from the state and to the Build Back Better Grant given through the federal government.
“We got turned down because the road has so much of Mt. Juliet in it and so much of Lebanon in it,” said Hutto. “They had asked us when we apply to ask those cities to join in with us.”
The county and the two cities will reapply for the grant in the spring.
In the meantime, McCormack said she wants to see changes implemented now.
She and Hutto wrote a letter to 11 companies along the road that often drive big vehicles, like semis and cement trucks, to see if they would be willing to use another route.There is a push to improve a Wilson County road after a de*adly crash.
