Faulty evasive action blamed for fatal accident
Polk County Enterprise, March 2007

LIVINGSTON – One person died and two others were transported by medical helicopter to area hospitals as the result of recent accidents on Polk County highways, according to the Texas Highway Patrol.
Russell Glenn Smith, 51, of Livingston was pronounced dead at the scene of a two-car accident at 10:50 p.m. Friday on U.S. 190, nine miles west of Livingston.
Smith was driving a 1988 Chevrolet Camero that was eastbound when it left the highway to the right. According to Trooper David Morris, Smith overcorrected and the car skidded into the westbound lane where it struck a westbound 1996 Saturn driven by Deanna Nicol Hudnell, 35, of Goodrich.
Hudnell was transported by helicopter to Memorial Hermann Hospital in Houston. Smith was pronounced dead at the scene by Precinct 3 Justice of the Peace Larry Whitworth. His body was taken to Cochran Funeral Home.
No charges have been filed in connection with the accident.
A Silsbee man was seriously injured in a motorcycle accident at 1:45 p.m. Sunday on FM 943, 27.6 miles south of Livingston.
Matthew Wayne Cowart, 48, of Silsbee was driving a 2007 Suzuki motorcycle southbound when it entered a left-hand curve and dropped off the edge of the roadway, according to Morris. He said the driver took faulty evasive action and the motorcycle started to slide in gravel and flipped, ejecting Cowart.
Cowart, listed with incapacitating injuries, was transported by helicopter to St. Elizabeth’s Hospital in Beaumont.
No charges have been filed.