Truck Accident Closes Highway Over Nine Hours

Christina Cole

Contributor

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A truck accident, Tuesday, on U.S. 6 had a two-mile portion of the highway closed down for nine hours after a trucker crashed and overturned his tractor-trailer. A broken utility pole and diesel fuel leak made ht situation that much worse.

The accident happened at about 8:15am on US 6 between Ohio 2 and Ohio 269. Troopers were unable to reopen the highway until 5:00pm.

The driver of the semi-truck is a 64-year-old, South Bend man. He was traveling east on US 6 going 45 mph when he failed to negotiate a curve which caused the semi truck to rollover, sliding off the right side of the road, taking with it a traffic control sign and a utility pole connected to an electrical transformer.

The driver did not show signs of intoxication at the scene and he was wearing his seatbelt when the accident happened. He was transported to Firelands Regional Medical Center and treated for facial lacerations and minor bumps and bruises. He was released the same afternoon.

Troopers called in Ohio Edison and Spill Tek to clean up the power lines and fluid leaking from the damaged electrical transformer. The truck's saddle tanks were also damaged, causing them to leak 10-20 gallons of diesel fuel onto the street.

"Ten to 20 gallons is not that much, especially when (the tanks) carry 200 gallons," said Sgt. Michael Knoll of the Ohio State Highway Patrol's Sandusky post.

The truck driver was cited for failure to maintain reasonable control of a vehicle. The maximum penalty for failure to control is $150 plus court fees.