On Monday evening, in Tulsa, Oklahoma, officials rushed to the scene of a crash involving two vehicles and a semi.
The incident occurred on the southwest corner of the Inner Dispersal Loop downtown at about 3:30 p.m.
The Oklahoma Highway Patrol specified that accident’s location was I-444 westbound to I-244, where westbound traffic on the IDL turns north to head toward the Sand Springs Expressway.
According to OHP, two cars were involved in a crash after a Nissan Maxima attempted to back up on the highway after missing its exit. Next, a pickup slowed to avoid the Maxima, and then a minivan collided with it.
The semi truck driver, Rick Hughes, swerved to avoid hitting the wreck ahead. The truck driver veered to the right on the northbound ramp leading to highway 75.
The truck is owned by Shepherd Oil Company in Blackwell, and it was empty at the time of the accident.
An emergency crew worked for nearly two hours to rescue the trapped truck driver from his semi.
Firefighters stated that Hughes was awake and talking when they moved him to the ambulance. Crews had difficulty rescuing the man because his foot was caught by the sign. His injury appears to be non-life-threatening.
News 6 reported that the truck driver’s quick acting maneuver may have saved several lives as he risked his own.
Officials claim that the crash could have been much worse:
“He did save these two ladies’ lives by going up on the embankment. His tanker was empty, that saved a lot. If it had been full it would have been a lot worse.”
The highway was shut down for over four hours and roads reopened around 7:30 p.m.
Troopers are currently searching for the driver of the Maxima.
