A trucking accident led to a semi truck flipping onto its side near Rochester, NY on Wednesday the 19th. The accident caused serious delays on New York’s Interstate 490 — delays that lasted from mid-afternoon until late in the evening.
According to NY State Police Sergeant Jose Vasquez, the accident happened near the Goodman Street exit of I-490 East just past the bridge over the Genesee River. Police believe the accident took place at around 4 p.m. EST.
The truck was driven by Justin W. Frank of Newark Valley. Frank was driving over the bridge and coming around the curve before the exit. Police believe he was driving too fast, and thus lost control of his vehicle. The truck flipped over as it came through the curve, landing on its side. The crash spilled the scrap metal cargo that it was hauling all over the roadway. Frank had to be taken to a hospital nearby to be treated for a shoulder injury. There was a passenger in Frank’s truck, but the passenger was not hurt in the accident. Police have not released the passenger’s name.
The highway was closed for approximately three hours between 4 and 7 p.m. Sgt. Vazquez said that the closure was to handle a significant cleanup from the spilled cargo.
This accident illustrates the way that trucking accidents routinely disrupt traffic. Because the driver was speeding, a major highway was closed for at least three hours. Cleanup crews had to be paid for their efforts, wreckers and other vehicles had to be fueled and brought to the scene, and medical crews had to take the driver to the hospital. Only after thousands of dollars of effort, three hours of wasted time for people caught behind the accident, and serious disruptions to the area’s traffic could things finally reopen and get back to normal.
