The high risk of tractor trailer truck overturns or rollovers: driver claims he was coughing when he lost control, causing the rollover of the truck
A tractor-trailer accident Sunday afternoon on Interstate 88 led to a road closure the following morning to remove the vehicle, state police at Oneonta said.
The vehicle’s driver, Luc Labonte of Quebec, Canada, was taken to A.O. Fox Hospital with facial injuries, troopers said.
The accident occurred about 5:15 p.m. near Exit 12 when Labonte, traveling west, drove onto the center median, then back onto the roadway before the truck overturned on the north shoulder, troopers said.
The truck was carrying 45,000 pounds of formaldehyde resin, a fire official said. The driver claimed he was coughing when he lost control, troopers said. His company arranged to have the material removed. The right lane was closed after the accident until the truck was removed before 11 a.m., troopers said. The roadway was closed for about an hour starting at 9 a.m. Monday to allow for the truck’s removal, troopers said.
Not knowing what the chemical on the truck was, Otego Fire Chief Scott Secor said that he called for the county special operations team. Although there was some diesel oil spilled, the tank did not rupture, he said.
His department was at the scene for much of Sunday evening. It returned about 2:25 a.m. the following day to help with the recovery, he said.
Besides Otego Fire and EMS, state police at Sidney, the Department of Transportation, and a Department of Environmental Conservation spill team responded to the accident, troopers said.