Truck driver causes accident in Alabama while pulling tooth out
A driver in Alabama caused a mile-long traffic jam on I-20/59 East Sunday night and Monday morning because the driver was busy pulling out his own tooth, according to a report.
The accident, which happened just before 10:30 Sunday night near the interstate's mile marker 79, was caused when a self-employed tractor trailer driver took his hands off the wheel to pull a loose tooth from his mouth, AL.com reported.
MyFoxAL.com - FOX6 WBRC Birmingham, AL
"The driver stated he lost control when he was pulling a tooth with his hands," an Alabama Highway Patrol incident report said, according to the newspaper. "He had the tooth in his shirt pocket as proof."
The accident caused no serious injuries but it triggered a complete shutdown of a three-mile stretch of the freeway and caused delays that lasted into the Monday morning rush hour, the newspaper reported.
The 57-year-old, whose name wasn't released, had taken both hands off the wheel while yanking a loose chomper, police said. The truck veered off the road and overturned, the report said.
Traffic was backed up on Interstate 20 for about 11 hours.
Authorities say the 57-year-old driver wasn't seriously hurt.
