Cumberland River Crash

This crash is the first in a series of collisions that occurred during icy and foggy conditions, February 10, 2011.  Unit 1 was west bound on I-24 and had just started across the Cumberland River bridge. As the vehicle continued forward, the operator encountered icy conditions and lost control. The vehicle ran off the left shoulder of the roadway and struck the concrete bridge wall, coming to final rest.  The initial impact was located approximately 254 feet from the beginning of the bridge. That concludes the series of events leading up to the first crash. A short time after coming to final rest, a second vehicle (a semi-tractor and trailer operated by Stack) encountered unit 1 stopped in the roadway, blocking the left lane. Operator unit 2 stated she tried to steer right to avoid but began to slide. Unit 2 struck unit 1, pushing it approximately 230 feet, where it once again came to final rest. Unit 2 continued forward approximately 760 feet, coming to final rest. Two additional collisions took place after these two, and are described in additional crash reports. The other collisions were not directly associated with these crash events, aside from their respective environmental factors. After the initial crash, operator Hastings was assisted by passing motorist/witness Clan who stated the operator stayed in her car for a short period of time. Out of concern for the safety of witness Clan, operator unit 1 told her to continue on. That was the last known sighting of operator Hastings. Currently, it is believed Hastings was outside of his vehicle and either jumped or was struck and thrown from the bridge, into the river below. However, no evidence has been found to suggest he was actually struck (blood, fluids, vehicle damage, etc.). For documentation purposes, the following is the series of events leading to the two other collisions. An undetermined amount of time later, operator Lauren entered the crash zone traveling westbound and managed to stop. Operator Bailey entered the crash zone and rear-ended the semi-tractor and trailer operated by Lauren.  After these events had stabilized, a third semi-tractor trailer operated by Andrew Nelson entered the crash zone and struck operator Bailey's vehicle, and jack-knifed, blocking the westbound lanes completely. After this crash, all events stabilized and there were no further incidents. The current whereabouts of operator Hastings is unknown.

• #people_blogs
• #vid
• #00031
• #20110210
• #0721