Personal Injury Law

Truck Driver Helps Rescue Virginia Family

By Brett Emison

CBS affiliate WTVR has reported that Virginia State Police are crediting a tractor trailer driver for helping save father and two children involved in a car accident.

Tractor-Trailer Driver Witnesses Crash and Saves Father and Two Children

Thanks to an alert tractor-trailer driver, a father and his two children were rescued from a single-vehicle traffic crash Sunday night (Dec. 20) along Interstate 95 near the Interstate 895/Pocahontas Parkway interchange.

Shortly before 6:30 p.m. Sunday, a 2001 Saturn ran off I-95 to the right, went over the guardrail and down a 30-foot embankment into a creek. The car landed upside down in the creek bottom with the driver and his 5-year-old twin children, a boy and girl, trapped inside.

The tractor-trailer driver, Joseph M. Weavil of Kernersville, N.C., happened to see the car as it went over the guardrail. Weavil called State Police to report the crash and stopped to try and assist the overturned vehicle.

Virginia State Police Sgt. Chris Clark quickly arrived and with Weavil's assistance was lowered down the steep embankment to the car. Clark was able to break out a window and rescue the father and young children trapped inside.

Weavil waited up on I-95 for EMS services to arrive and guided them to Clark and the injured occupants. The father and twins were transported by ambulance to VCU Medical Center with non-life threatening injuries.

"Because the car landed at the bottom of the steep embankment and was in no way visible from the Interstate, there's no telling how long this crash would have gone unnoticed if it had not been for Mr. Weavil witnessing it," said Sgt. Clark, Virginia State Police Area 8 Office. "The quick actions of Mr. Weavil and his assistance in the rescue during the snowstorm undoubtedly made the difference between life and death for these individuals."

Cudos and heartfelt thanks to Mr. Weavil for his selfless act in helping to rescue the driver and two young children in this accident. We hear often about semi truck accidents, but rarely about truck drivers who perform good deeds.

Like any profession, bad apples tarnish the reputation of many. In some instances, trucking companies pressure their drivers into driving long hours and high speeds.

It is refreshing to see Mr. Weavil's courageous act and he should be hearitly congratulated! All truck drivers should strive to meet his example.

Full post as published by Kansas City Personal Injury Lawyer on December 22, 2009 (boomark / email).