T-L Photo/ROBERT A. DEFRANK Responders prepare to tow a westbound semi truck that had blocked Interstate 70 after a tire from an eastbound vehicle broke loose, crossed the highway and smashed into the truck, injuring the driver.
ST. CLAIRSVILLE — Equipment failure was the apparent cause of a potentially deadly acwSgt. Tim Cunningham of the St. Clairsville post of the Ohio State Highway Patrol said Mark Crean of Peabody, Massachusetts had a shock while driving an Arctic Express semi trailer westbound.
“He remembers seeing the bouncing tire,” Cunningham said.
“We call it a set of duals, it has the rim and the hub all attached, and those roughly weigh about 1,000 pounds all together. … It’s bouncing down the road.”
Cunningham said the tire came off a semi with a flatbed trailer driven eastbound by Elias Miller, 37, of Friedens, Pennsylvania.
“The bouncing tire came off the eastbound lane, went into the middle construction lane that shut down, and then into the westbound lane of travel, striking that Arctic Express truck,” Cunningham said. “It hit the hood and the windshield, causing debris, glass, also the steering wheel to be pushed onto that truck.”
Cunningham said Crean suffered an apparently minor injury and numerous cuts. He said the highway was closed for about 20 minutes while responders from the Cumberland Trail Fire District extracted Crean from the vehicle and transported him to WVU Medicine Wheeling Hospital. Cunningham said Crean was expected to be released later Tuesday.
He added that Trooper Dennis Wilcox, who is a commercial vehicle inspector, located Miller’s truck on the exit 216 off ramp to Ohio 9, pulled off the road.
“(Wilcox) inspected the truck, and it’s thought to be a wheel-bearing nut went out, causing everything to let loose of it,” Cunningham said.
Miller was placed out of service due to the violations and was cited for operating defective equipment. Cunningham said this is classified as a minor misdemeanor.
“It carries no points. It’s an equipment violation is the section it’s under. … It’s the only thing that fits,” he said.
However, he noted the company is likely to face steep fines, according to federal codes. He added that Miller expressed concern for Crean’s well-being.
He said the tire was located in the middle of the highway, where construction work is ongoing.
Cunningham said maintenance issues among semis are unfortunately not rare.
“The only oddity is just having to have the interstate shut down for a little bit,” he said. “It creates all this havoc. … It’s doing their safety inspections, doing more safety inspections. …The drivers, a lot of times the drivers, when we talk to them, they say, ‘Hey, I told this company 10 times that something’s wrong, and it finally happens.’ … Just for the companies to fix the issues as the drivers let them know.”
He said this was the third incident of a truck losing a tire that he had seen in his 18-year career.
The entire incident occurred and was cleaned up between 1:58 and 4:48 p.m.
Cunningham said the delay also caused a traffic jam on U.S. 40 west as motorists attempted to take the secondary route.
He thanked motorists for their patience.
“We didn’t have any crashes in the backup, that’s huge,” he said. “Everybody was kind of taking their time. We’re very thankful for that.”
Today's breaking news and more in your inbox
BELMONT — Janet Hissrich is closing out her career as treasurer for the Union Local School District with her ...
Today ∫ The Highlands, Triadelphia, at dusk ∫ St. Clairsville, at the Amphitheater at dusk ∫ Cadiz, at ...
Ohio Lt. Gov. Jon Husted was in Marietta Thursday for a roundtable discussion regarding the oil and gas ...
Today's breaking news and more in your inbox
Copyright © The Times Leader | https://www.timesleaderonline.com | 200 S. Fourth St., Martins Ferry, OH 43935 | 740-633-1131