VALDOSTA —
No citations were issued in the tractor-trailer accident on Old U.S 41 North Tuesday, according to the Georgia State Patrol.
New information gathered Wednesday morning stated a freight truck was traveling southbound on Old U.S. 41 North when the top portion of its trailer caught a low-hanging telephone line, reports stated.
The line hung on the trailer briefly before breaking. One utility pole broke in half and struck the top hood portion of a tractor-trailer that was behind the freight truck, according to reports. Another utility pole broke and traveled south, hitting a personal property sign. After the impact of the broken pole, the tractor-trailer traveled approximately 192 feet facing south before coming to a halt, according to the GSP.
The tractor-trailer was reportedly carrying lottery tickets, according to officials at the scene.
Judging from observations at the scene, a piece of broken pole remained attached to a wire strung over the trailer and attached to another pole. As the tractor-trailer moved forward, the wire tightened, bringing the pole closer to the rear bumper. The pole fragment became wedged against the rear bumper, tightening the wire, collapsing the trailer.
Other pieces of the pole traveled in other directions. A piece of one of the poles was seen planted in the ground at Smith Northview Hospital.
The tractor-trailer, which was traveling back to Orlando, Fla., could not avoid snagging the lowered line, Lowndes County Fire Marshal Darryl Hall said.
“The driver was really a victim of circumstance,” Hall said. “There was no way for him to avoid running into that line.”
The tractor-trailer was nearly split in half following the accident which occurred around 3:35 p.m. Tuesday in front of the Smok’n Pig.
Lowndes County Fire and Rescue, the GSP and the Georgia Department of Transportation responded to the scene.
Lowndes County Fire Chief Richard Guyton said the fire department always responds to scenes where power lines are down.
“We’re here as a safety concern,” he said. “We have rerouted traffic until the trailer could be towed and the downed lines removed.”
The driver of the AGC Solutions truck and his passenger said they were on the way back to Orlando when the accident happened. Both said they were shaken, but otherwise not harmed.
“I’ve been driving trucks for 30 years and never once had a ticket or accident,” driver Miguel Montavo said.
He and his girlfriend, Abigail Diaz, waited in the hot sun for a bus to come and take them back home to Orlando.
The driver of the first truck to hit the line left the scene but was tracked down for questioning.
No injuries were reported.
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Georgia State Patrol and Lowndes County Fire and Rescue personnel work the scene of an accident on Old U.S. 41 North, near the intersection with North Valdosta Road. A tractor-trailer was nearly split in two after it snagged a low-hanging telephone line Tuesday. Paul Leavy
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September 8, 2010
