On Wednesday, July 29, 2020 at approximately 3:40pmCT, KSP Post 15 received a call of a 2-vehicle collision at the 61-mile marker on the Louie B. Nunn Cumberland Parkway in Russell County. The preliminary investigation revealed that 45-year-old Keith Coffman of Bowling Green, KY was traveling westbound in a 2019 Ford pickup truck towing trailers. For an unknown reason, Coffman’s vehicle left the right shoulder of the roadway and the trailer he was towing struck a pedestrian, 71-year-old Joe Birdwell of Columbia, KY and a 1997 Dodge pickup truck, which was parked in the westbound emergency lane.
Birdwell was flown to University of Kentucky Hospital where he later succumbed to his injuries. A passenger in Birdwell’s vehicle, Kenneth Davis, 76, of Columbia, KY was also flown to University of Kentucky Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. A portion of the westbound lanes of the Louie B. Nunn Parkway were closed for several hours in order to allow troopers to investigate the collision.
KSP Post 15 was assisted at the scene by the Russell County Sheriffs Office, R.C. Fire Dept., EMS and Rescue. The collision is still under investigation by Trooper Jason Warinner.
