KINGSPORT — Hot Springs, Ark., resident Bedwin H. Steely, 86, died Friday after a wreck on Airport Parkway near Tri-Cities Regional Airport.
At about 11:39 a.m., the Kingsport Police Department responded to a motor vehicle collision on Airport Parkway, State Route 357, at Flagship Drive. Patrolman Dustin Jackson with the Traffic Division investigated the collision.
According to statements from those involved and witnesses interviewed by Jackson, a 2004 Honda Pilot driven by Harvey Rhymer Jr., 51, of Blountville, was traveling eastbound on Airport Parkway in the left lane. A 1998 Mercury Grand Marquis, driven by Steely, which had been stopped on northbound Flagship Drive, pulled out into the path of the Honda Pilot and the Pilot struck it.
Steely, the driver of the Marquis, was injured and had to be extricated by emergency service personnel. He was transported to Bristol Regional Medical Center, where he succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced dead at 12:16 p.m.
His wife, Mary Steely, was a passenger in the vehicle and said the vehicle was pulling straight across Airport Parkway onto Enterprise Place to stop at the Shell gas station. All involved were wearing seat belts and alcohol was not a factor, the police report said. The investigation is ongoing.