Bill Raines
- Jul 17, 2023
- 2 min read

Bedford Woman Suffers Serious Injuries in traffic accident at 16th Street and Indiana State Road 37

BEDFORD - JULY 17, 2023 - A Bedford woman suffered serious injuries in a three vehicle collision at the intersection of Indiana State Road 37 and 16th Street Friday evening.

The accident happened just north of the intersection, in the southbound lane of Indiana State Road 37.

Photo: Bedford Firefighters work to a free an accident victim on Friday evening at the intersection of 16th Street and Indiana State Road 37

Heather Smith, 31 of Bedford; was driving southbound on Indiana State Road 37 when according to police reports from witness acounts, was traveling at a high rate of speed and rear-ended a tow truck owned by Mikels Towing.

Bedford Fire Department extricated Smith from her vehicle which took several minutes and was transported to a landing zone at IU Health Hospital Bedford.

Smith was flown from the landing zone to a trauma center for treatment of her injuries.

The driver of the tow truck, Toby Kimmel, 46, Bedford was driving a Kenworth 548 Tow Truck, which was stopped in the southbound lane of Indiana State Road 37, when his truck was rear-ended by Smith, pushing the tow truck in a third vehicle driven by Paula Arnold, 64, also of Bedford.

No other persons was transported to the hospital, and Stone City Collison towed Smith's vehicle from the accident scene.

Within several minutes emergency personnel from Bedford Fire Department, Bedford Police and IU Lifeline Ambulance responded to a accident at the intersection of 16th Street and James Avenue.