By DON FLETCHER
News Staff Writer
No serious injuries were reported Saturday morning, June 23, when the driver of a 1995 Ford Mustang apparently didn’t notice that a tractor-trailer rig ahead of it was making a right turn, and ran up under the rig’s trailer.
The mishap, which happened shortly after 10:30 a.m. at the junction of U.S. 31 and Wilson Avenue, caused only temporary traffic problems on the highway, but the wreckage blocked the city street for about an hour as city police completed their investigation into the wreck.
According to police reports, the 2014 Kenworth rig is owned by James Fincher Timber Co. of Tanner Williams (a tiny community outside Satsuma). It was being driven by 60-year-old Ronald Ross of Atmore, who was attempting to turn off U.S. 31 and onto Wilson Avenue when the car slid under the trailer.
Reports show that the driver of the sports car — Sharon Sharn Brown, 34, of Bay Minette — “attempted to stop but misjudged the stopping distance and struck the attached trailer.”
Brown wasn’t injured, but he came mighty close, as the collision shattered the car’s windshield and ripped the metal from its top, just above the driver’s head.
Although Sharon Ross, the truck driver’s wife, said at the scene that her husband “had his turn signal on” and was swinging wide to make the 90-degree turn when the collision occurred, police noted that there was nobody in the semi but the driver.
Sharon Ross said in a voice message left at Atmore News that she “just happened to come by right after the wreck happened.”
Emergency medical crews left the accident site without any patients, and no charges were filed in connection to the accident.
News photos by Don Fletcher