Truck Dumps 50,000 Pounds Of Potatoes And Shuts Down North Carolina's Highway
Fifty-thousand pounds of raw potatoes were strewn about North Carolina's I-77 when the truck driver carrying the haul fell asleep behind the wheel and crashed into a concrete barrier at the side of the road.
A tractor-trailer driving along Interstate 77 in Charlotte, N.C. had a huge crash and overturned, strewing thousands of potatoes across the roadway, leading to the whole area closing down. Clean-up crews got into the act of removing them.
It happened at 2 a.m. on the southbound lanes of I-77, near West Boulevard.
The official records explain that it was because the driver just dozed off, which made him lose control behind the wheel, causing him to smash into a concrete barrier beside the road and overturn. It was such a violent accident that the tractor-trailer's engine just flew out, spilling the fuel and soaking some of the potatoes.
The truck driver was rescued by a couple of nearby witnesses. They rushed him to Carolinas Medical Center with a few injuries.
Following the crash, the North Carolina Department of Transportation sent a few front-end loaders to gather and put away the potatoes.
Meanwhile, some clean-up crews have cleared a lane and are putting together the traffic in working order by afternoon. Meanwhile, traffic is being re-routed.
According to reports, "the NCDOT recommends that commuters take Exit 11 onto I-277, loop around the downtown area, then take exit 1-B to return to I-77 South in order to avoid the wreck."
