Truckers Named Goodyear Highway Hero Finalists
11 March 1999
Truckers Named Goodyear Highway Hero Finalists AKRON, Ohio, March 10 -- Five professional truck drivers from
three states and a Canadian province have been named finalists in the 1998
Goodyear North America Highway Hero program, the trucking industry's most
prestigious award for heroism.
The drivers will be introduced to the trucking industry at the Mid America
Trucking Show in Louisville, Ky., March 25, where one of them will be named
the 1998 Goodyear North America Highway Hero.
The finalists are:
* Christopher Sackos, a self-employed driver who lived in Lawrence,
Mass., at the time of the incident that won him nomination to the Goodyear
program. Rounding a bend on I-495 in the dark, Sackos said he saw brake
lights ahead and an object that appeared to be a duffel bag in the middle of
the road. As his rig drew nearer, he realized it was a young woman,
apparently thrown from her vehicle in an accident.
Sackos used his rig to cut off other drivers at the scene, keeping traffic
away from the woman, then jumped from his truck to assist the injured woman.
State Police reports say if he had not helped, the woman in the road would
probably have been killed by other traffic. Sackos is now a resident of Palm
Bay, Fla.
* Wayne Carpenter, Keene, N.H., who drives for Cheshire Oil Company,
Inc., was enroute to pick up a load when he saw a car veer into a head-on
collision with an oncoming truck. Both vehicles erupted in flames. Carpenter
emptied his fire extinguisher into the flaming wreckage, but was unable to
control the blaze. When the injured passenger of the wrecked automobile
managed to pull himself out of the flames, he asked Carpenter to get the
driver out of the car. Ignoring the flames and any risk to himself, Carpenter
repeatedly tried to enter the car to remove the unconscious driver. Finally,
he succeeded, but later the driver was pronounced dead at the accident scene.
The driver of the other truck had been seriously injured when thrown clear
of the wreck, and Carpenter's calls for aid resulted in getting help for the
man.
* Jamie Pritchard, Elk Park, N.C., was a driver for Jack Hicks, Inc.,
when he attempted to assist the occupants of a passenger car who had been in
an accident. The effort cost him his life.
Pritchard apparently attempted to take a mother and two children from a
disabled vehicle to a place of safety. Police reports said that as Pritchard
attempted to remove one child, he saw another truck bearing down on him. He
thrust the child back into the disabled car in time to save her, but the truck
struck and killed him instantly.
Pritchard's widow, Wyndy, will accept honors on his behalf.
* For the first time, Canadian drivers have been nominated in the
Goodyear Highway Hero program as the company expands eligibility to drivers
throughout North America.
In a dual nomination in which finalist honors are shared, Michael Asselin
and Mark Savarie are recognized for stopping to assist the driver of a burning
explosives truck to escape the cab. The two drivers were operating separate
rigs for ETI Transport, Ltd. when they saw a truck that had hit a rock
embankment at the side of the highway and caught fire near Lively, Ontario.
When the explosives truck blew up, reports said it scattered debris for more
than a mile and left a crater in the road. The two are credited with
preventing injuries and more extensive property damage.
Goodyear's North America Highway Hero program began 16 years ago as the
company sought to recognize professional drivers who get involved and risk
their own lives so that others may be safe.
"Every year there are thousands of men and women who take major chances
without any thanks at all," said Mike Thomann, marketing director for
commercial tires. "We want to be sure that we recognize everyone we can."
The program was expanded last year into 12 newly established regions in
the United States and Canada so that more drivers can participate in the
benefits of the Highway Hero program.
Anyone can nominate a driver by calling program headquarters at
800-627-2118 for details and criteria.
