A trucking accident near Gang Mills, New York saw a semi truck overturn and spill crates of cargo at the intersection of Route 15, I-86 West and North Hamilton Street last Friday.
The truck was rounding a sharp curve at the flyover which merges Route 15 onto I-86 West. The speed at which the driver took the turn caused the large truck to tip over, crashing and skidding. As the truck crashed, the cargo in the trailer went flying, sending multiple crates over the guard rail of the highway and down onto North Hamilton, a road passing under the interchange. The cargo was apparently crates of plastic tubes, which scattered and spilled all over the roadway as the crates shattered on impact with the road beneath the highway.
Jim Vogel, a minister who recently moved to the Gang Mills area, said that the plastic tubes ‘showered’ his car when they burst out of the crates. Vogel added, “I ducked and covered my head, because I didn’t know they were only plastic. I just thank the Lord that the crates didn’t hit anybody’s car, because they would have smashed the windshield.”
Vogel and several others, including a young couple and a Steuben County deputy, quickly began helping clear the road of the plastic pipes. They took some of the crate debris and used it to push the pipes off the road in order to clear it for other motorists. A vehicle hitting one of the pipes at highway speeds could easily suffer unexpected damage, or the driver could lose control.
The driver of the semi truck was injured in the crash, although there are no reports on his condition at this time.
Interestingly, the flyover was the scene of another accident last month. In that incident, a truck crashed and lost its cargo as well. Thousands of gallons of milk were spilled in that crash, pouring the liquid into a drainage pool near the flyover and North Hamilton.
