A truck driver delivering hurricane relief supplies to Houston was run off the road while trying to avoid a motorist on her phone.
It happened on Tuesday morning, August 29th in Columbia, Tennessee.
According to the Columbia Daily Herald, David Greene was driving his tractor trailer south on James M. Campbell Boulevard heading to Houston when he began to attempt a wide right turn onto Hampshire Pike. Greene then noticed a car driving in the turning lane, right in the path of the turning big rig.
“There was a woman coming down the turning lane just talking away on her cell phone,” explained Greene.
“So to keep from hitting her I had to cut back over and my trailer dropped off the pavement,” he continued.
No one was injured in the incident, but traffic was backed up and Hampshire Pike was closed for several hours as crews worked to tow the semi truck back onto the road.
“It looks like it might have gotten the guardrail a little bit, but it just dropped off the pavement and messed up traffic a little bit, nobody hurt or killed, nothing really torn up,” added Greene.
The intersection where the incident occurred is known to be accident prone.
“I’ve heard from people driving four-wheelers and other truck drivers that this happens at least once a month. The drop off is bad and the turn isn’t wide enough for trucks, and this is a heavy truck route.”
No serious damage was done to either the semi truck or the roadway.