Mississippi Trucker Cited in Trucking Accident

Chrissie Cole

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A Mississippi truck driver whose rig veered off Interstate 40 causing over $70,000 in damages to an overhead sign, 200 feet of guardrail and a traffic camera was cited by authorities for the trucking accident.

The driver was transporting vinyl siding on a flatbed trailer when the accident happened. While traveling in the right lane along eastbound I-40, the rig veered off the side of the road slamming through a support for an overhead sign, a pole supporting a traffic camera and lastly ripped out 200 feet of guardrail as he ended up in the embankment.

The rig came to rest on the passenger side and burst into flames. The driver and his two sons escaped the accident with only minor injuries. According to Knoxville Police Department, the driver told the officer he had a steering problem that caused him to lose control of his rig.

KPD spokesman said the investigating officer listed mechanical problems as the possible cause of the wreck after talking with the trucking company, Discovery Transport Inc. of Vernon, Ala.

"The truck was too damaged to do an inspection," he said. "But he (the driver) had reported to the company on two previous occasions, and the company had worked on it, about popping noises with the steering."

However, on Thursday he told the News Sentinel the wreck was caused by his left front tire blowing out. The trucker said he intentionally drove the rig off the road. If he hadn't run off the road, "I'd be in the other lanes, and I would have shut down the whole interstate.