Wednesday, March 25, 2015

DUMP TRUCK GOING TOO FAST FLIPS TO ITS SIDE, SPILLING DEBRIS ON THE RAMP FROM INTERSTATE 80 TO ROUTE 209 NEAR STROUDSBURG, PA











MARCH 23, 2015

STROUD TOWNSHIP, PENNSYLVANIA

A dump truck hauling rocks, bricks, and dirt rolled onto its side on the ramp from Interstate 80 to Route 209 near Stroudsburg around 5:30 p.m. Monday.
State police said debris from the truck spilled onto the road. Some of the falling debris hit some vehicles on the interstate below.

The windshield of a passing tractor trailer was smashed by either a rock or a brick, according to troopers.  That driver was hit in the face by some broken glass and was taken to Pocono Medical Center.

The driver of the dump truck said he lost control of the truck going around the bend.

According to state police, the driver was going too fast and was cited.

The driver of the dump truck was not hurt, troopers said.

The ramp was closed while crews cleaned up the mess.

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TRUCK DRIVER HIT BY ROCK DEBRIS FROM DUMP TRUCK FLIP ON INTERSTATE 
80 TELLS HIS STORY

MARCH 24, 2015

STROUDSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA 

The driver affected by an overturned truck says all of a sudden, he couldn’t see out his windshield because it shattered and glass went into his eyes.

The crash happened Monday where Route 209 crosses over Interstate 80 in Monroe County.

It was right around rush hour when state police say a dump truck took a turn too fast on the Route 209 off ramp in the Stroudsburg area. The crash left debris all over the interstate.

Tuesday we talked to the man from Ohio who was temporarily blinded by debris, left with a shattered windshield, a damaged tractor-trailer, and a trip to the hospital.

Lakvihr Singh of Akron, Ohio says he was just doing his job, driving along Interstate 80 when a dump truck tipped on the four-lane Route 209 off-ramp in Stroudsburg.

“I’m under the bridge. We go over the bridge and then when we passed the bridge a little bit. That’s when it happened,” said Singh.

Singh says for the next 30 seconds or so, he couldn’t see a thing while driving about 55 miles an hour.

“Everything hit on my windshield, all my truck is broke and a lot of glass was in my eyes, so they did MRIs, X-rays,” said Singh.

Singh spent most of the night at Pocono Medical Center.

State troopers say the dump truck driver was going too fast around the curve on the ramp. The spill sent rocks all over I-80 and traffic backed up for miles.

Other drivers who travel Interstate 80 often say they missed that accident by minutes and couldn’t imagine a rock coming through their windshield.

“I was about 10 minutes ahead of it and my sister who was about 15 minutes behind me had gotten stuck in the traffic as well,” said Amy Todd of Effort.

Todd says crashes happen all too often on this stretch of highway and realizes she came dangerously close to having a rock through her windshield.

“That is a very steep turn and a lot of accidents happen and unfortunately the cars that are going underneath don’t think to look up,” said Todd.

As for Singh, he says he’s looking forward to getting back behind the wheel for Summit Lake Trucking, thankful he still can.

“Yeah, that’s my job,” said Singh.

Troopers cited the driver of the dump truck for driving the vehicle at an unsafe speed.