Fatal Accidents

I was driving east out of Reno, NV when a Truck up the road started to swerve and went side over side down the side of the free way there, the Driver was Ejected but half of her head stayed in the truck, When I got there, her body was jerking on the edge of the road. Others were taking fire ext to the truck to get the fire out and what appeared to be another passenger inside.

 

I was involved in a two fatality accident back in 1991 and I think of it just about every day. It happened right after 8 am on U.S. 95 just about a mile or two south of Searchlight Nevada. I was driving south with a truck and trailer loaded with 8900 gallons of gasoline heading to Bullhead AZ for my first load of the day.

There's was hardly anyone on the road. I saw a small pick-up coming north and looking in the mirror I saw a white van coming up on my rear. The van was moving pretty fast and I thought he's just going to wait while the pick-up passes us. The van pulls out to pass me and I knew he wasn't going to make it. So I moved onto the shoulder and I saw the pick-up do the same. I thought if everyone just stays where they are it will be ok. I was traveling at 62mph the pick-up looked like he was doing ok but the van was speeding.

When the pick-up moved over to his shoulder he went too far and the right front tire went into the dirt. The driver panicked and started to over steer to bring his pick-up back onto the shoulder. The front tire caught the pavement and he just shot across the road and hit the van head on.

Like everyone says time slows down and you remember the sights, sound, and smell. I saw the van fly up into the air in my mirror and I started to stop. There was a fire so I grabbed my fire extinguisher from the truck and ran back to the scene. The pick-up was on fire and pointed south. The van was on it's drivers side also pointed south next to the pick-up. I used my fire extinguisher on the pick-up but the fire was too big and the bottle ran out. During this time people started to stop (well they had to since the road was blocked) and a few came up to the pick-up and started to flip out, crying and screaming. In the pick-up there was only one passenger, an older man. He was laying across his seat with his upper torso under the glove box. There was no movement and he was burning. So I knew there was nothing I could do with him. At this time another truck driver came up, a young kid, and he started to lose it. I told him I needed his help and he's got to get it together. And he did. The van was too close to the pick-up and the fire was way too hot to get at the other guy. In the van there was also only one passenger and he was hanging from the rear view mirror.

I asked the young truck driver if he had a chain and he did. I told him to drop his trailer and bring the tractor to the other side of the van because we are going to slide the van away from the fire. He was very fast and positioned the tractor perfect. I hooked the chain around the drive shaft of the van then around his frame and we pulled the van far away enough so I could get at the guy.

He was a big guy and to this day I don't know how I pulled he from the van but I did. I placed him on the pavement and tried not to move him any more than necessary. He had no pulse and there was gray matter*******.

By this time there was nothing more to do but wait for the authorities and direct traffic away from the scene. In Nevada the Coroner must be there to pronounce anyone dead. Nothing can be done until he shows up.

The young truck driver went back and hooked his rig back up then came back with me. He says to me that I'm one lucly guy and I look at him like his crazy. Then he points to my truck. When the van flew up into the air the passenger side tire rim shaved my tank about 4 feet but did not rip into the tank. No gasoline was leaking and after I saw that I agreed I was lucky.

The state highway patrol CMV officer showed up and inspected my truck which was in perect shape. They couldn't figure out the scene until I explained what I did. I went over to the coroner and asked if he needed help with the pick-up and I did a little. What remains in my mind the most was the guy in the pick-up burnt to the bone for most of his body and his left hand curled up except for his index finger and that was pointing straight up.

My boss showed up and asked me what I wanted to do with the load. I told him if I don't get back up there I might have some problems later on. So we dropped the trailer because of the damage and I took the truck on down to the station in Bullhead. I got there around 4 pm. When I got back to the terminal in Vegas of course I had to go for the drug test and then I got home around 9 pm. I called my wife along time before and told her I broke down and would be late. When I got home I saw some gray matter on my pants so I threw them in the wash and my wife really got suspicious then so I sat her down and told her what had happened.

I can't remember who in the company that wanted to make a story of what I did but my boss said no and I agreed with him since two people died that day. But just like a previous post said your military training kicks in and you react the way you were trained. I'm sorry if I got a little too graphic but I wanted to make the point that you'll never forget things like this but you just have to get back up on the horse and do your job.

 

Seen allot out here. Navy Corpsman, and had to use my training more than a few times. Once is too many times. And quit the #### tailgating and speeding through accident scenes.

Mike

 

I go through the Kemmerer POE five times a week, didn't see or hear of this...wonder if it was during my off days.

 

I agree. When I was at my accident scene the cars were lined up stop and go then right in front of the NV state police this guys throws a beer can out the window. He went to jail.

 

Well hm, Ill have to take a gander next week. Normally I don't hit that intersection due to the POE, going in and out of there. Ill have to ask one of the gals (one of the 2 that are actually nice) at the Port about it.