It’s unbelievable how dangerous it can be to sit on the shoulders of an interstate highway. You are the target for any driver who spends too much time staring at their phone or decide to have a drink before getting behind the wheel. Have Another impressive reminder about this danger earlier this week in Northern Ohio.
On Thursday morning, an Ohio Department of Transportation employee stopped the vehicle in the northbound lane of Interstate 77. Highway technicians were on their way to pick up a street sweeper, but they stopped the vehicle. stopped to pick up trash he spotted by the side of the road. However, he would never step out of his truck.
CCTV footage caught a dump truck leaving the right lane and wandering over its shoulder. Almost as if he was aiming for the stationary vehicle, the dump truck driver rammed into the back of the ODOT truck. The crash scene was amazing there was a big fireball on impact. Both trucks were driven off the sidewalk and onto an embankment by the force of the impact, leaving a trail of fire after they collided.
The Summit County Sheriff’s Office responded to the incident and was able to remove drivers from their destroyed vehicles. According to the sheriff’s deputy, both drivers were hospitalized, and the van driver suffered life-threatening injuries.
Gery Noirot, deputy director of ODOT, said in a video statement, “Our highway staff, preferably our brother, a husband, a father and a grandfather were seriously injured. It’s not unusual for him to survive.” Noirot noted that the sheriff’s office is investigating the incident. Even so, he strongly hinted that the incident could have been caused by distracted driving. More than 80 ODOT teams were attacked on the road by other means so far this year.
