Trucker swerves to miss dog, 18-wheeler overturns on Jack Springs Road
By DON FLETCHER
News Staff Writer
The driver of an 18-wheel food truck that ran off Jack Springs Road and overturned in a ditch Sunday morning, April 13, told emergency responders he lost control of his rig when he swerved to avoid hitting a dog that ran into the roadway in front of his truck and loaded trailer.
“He [the unidentified trucker] told people a dog ran out in front of him, he swerved to miss it, he ran off the road, and his truck turned over,” said Atmore Fire Chief Ron Peebles.
The semi left the roadway and traveled about 15 yards before it tipped over and landed broadside, on the driver’s side, in the road’s eastern ditch. The driver, who was not seriously injured, had to be cut from the cab by city firefighters.
“We had to cut through the front windshield to get him out,” Peebles said. “He had only minor injuries, but he went to the hospital to be checked out.”
The cab belongs to Ryder Truck Rentals, according to Atmore Police Department reports. The trailer belongs to Best Choice, a Fort Worth, Texas company that provides bulk food shipments to correctional institutions, schools, food banks and discount grocery outlets.
According to Compliance Navigation Specialists, the U.S. Department of Transportation requires that a driver be tested if the crash (a) results in a fatality, (b) a citation is issued for a moving violation, with bodily harm requiring medical treatment, or (c) a moving violation citation is issued and the truck has to be towed.
The tractor-trailer had to be towed, and the operator was slightly injured, but he was not cited for any violations, so there was no requirement that he be tested.
Reports show AFD personnel were dispatched at 6:27 a.m. and remained on the scene for slightly more than an hour. City police blocked the major traffic artery at Swift Street and at a point about equidistant between The Pines II apartments and Crosspoint Baptist Church.
The roadway remained blocked for hours, as the truck’s position straddling the ditch made it difficult to get inflatable jacks into crucial positions to lift the overturned truck and its loaded trailer. Cables were connected to the truck’s cab by Castillows Towing employees from two different heavy-duty wreckers, and the vehicle was eventually pulled back onto the roadway.
Towing service owner Joey Castillow said the depth of the ditch lessened the ease of recovery, but didn’t mark the first time his crews had dealt with such a dilemma.
“These are special airbags that will lift a loaded trailer without damage,” he said. “With the open ditch under the trailer like this, it’s going to be difficult, but this is not our first rodeo.”