Details are coming into focus on the grisly accident that occurred Tuesday morning on southbound US-52.
A West Virginia man was killed early Tuesday morning when a tractor-trailer travelling southbound collided with the rollback tow truck on site to assist his disabled vehicle.
Jeff Vickers was killed in the crash. Surry County Emergency Management Director Eric Southern informed the passenger and the tow truck driver were able to jump out of the way ahead of the collision.
Vickers had called for assistance from a local towing company after having a flat tire. The tow company reported that given the angle and position of the vehicle, their tow truck was partially in the roadway while on site assisting, when the wreck occurred.
According to Sgt. F.A. Pipes of the North Carolina Highway Patrol, Vickers was atop the rollback truck bed while the tow truck driver and Vickers’ wife were on the ground.
The Highway Patrol report states a car carrier travelling southbound on US 52 “ran up the rollback ramp and hit Mr. Vickers who was standing outside his car, on top of the rollback bed.”
A truck driver who was first on the scene, but did not witness the accident, told The Mount Airy News, “The wrecker appeared to be sitting angled in the slow lane with the bed raised and maybe 1/3 of the bed over the white line pointed toward the shoulder.”
Based on his observation of the scene, “the semi apparently hit the wrecker directly in the rear but due to the angle of the wrecker, the semi used the bed of the wreckers as a ramp. It launched the semi into the air at an angle, causing the semi to go airborne and land on the driver’s side and skidded maybe 300 feet.
“The impact dislodged the disabled pickup and launched it another 30 feet into the woods. Cars were scattered and demolished everywhere both on US 52 and the road beneath with no occupants.”
There must have been a heightened sense of panic to the scene he said “looked like a war zone” as more vehicles than were involved in the collision littered the roadway, “Finally we realized that the semi was a car hauler, thank God.”
All the while there was a panicked search for Vickers, “(She) was frantically screaming for Jeff. Several of us searched all around for him but only later he was found under the semi cab with only a limb visible.”
The two-vehicle crash happened around 1:40 a.m. Tuesday morning, according to officials.
The tractor-trailer was hauling vehicles, and multiple vehicles it was carrying ended up on the highway during the collision. The tow truck driver was not injured.
US 52 had reopened in both directions by mid-afternoon, after being closed for much of the morning. Even the northbound lanes were closed for a period of time, as authorities brought in equipment to clear the wreckage in the southbound lanes.
Southern of Emergency Management confirmed Wednesday that there was an amount of diesel fuel that leaked, but that it was contained.
Despite other news outlet’s reporting, The Mount Airy News has not been able to confirm if any charges are pending.
Source: https://www.mtairynews.com