26 Truck Drivers Named State Highway Heroes
22 December 1997
26 Truck Drivers Named State Highway Heroes
AKRON, Ohio, Dec. 22 -- Twenty-six truck drivers representing
23 states earned the 1997 Goodyear State Highway Hero Award in recognition of
the daring roadside heroics they performed, Goodyear announced today.
The dramatic events include the rescue of a child abandoned on the side of
a highway, stopping a runaway truck careening down a mountain highway and
pulling a family from floodwaters.
Founded by Goodyear in 1983, the National Highway Hero program recognizes
professional truck drivers and the oftentimes unnoticed, life-saving rescues
and roadside assistance they provide as their jobs take them across the
country.
"The extraordinary actions demonstrated by these truck drivers help to
paint a true picture of the nation's truck drivers and shift the publics'
attention away from focusing solely on isolated and sensationalized negative
incidents involving the trucking industry," according to Donn Kramer,
marketing director for Goodyear's commercial tires.
The 26 state winners are:
Charles Taylor, Mesa, Ariz. -- While traveling on I-80 near Brookville,
Pa., Taylor witnessed a truck collide with a passing car. The car careened
into the guardrail and the truck continued on. Taylor followed the truck
until it pulled into a truckstop. With the help of other motorists, he was
able to block the truck from leaving until police arrived.
Mark Oden, Elk Grove, Calif. -- On a rainy night in June 1997, Oden saw a
small boy with no shoes or jacket running alone on the side of the highway.
After stopping his truck, Oden ran back along the highway to rescue the boy
who had been abandoned earlier that night by his mother and her boyfriend.
Jessie Austin, Norwood, Colo. -- Traveling near La Salle, Utah, Austin
swerved to avoid a bottle thrown at his truck by a passing motorist. The
evasive action caused Austin's cargo -- a front-end loader -- to move off its
mount. As he attempted to bring the rig to a stop, the trailer's rear brakes
locked up and it was only through his driving skills that Austin was able to
avoid crashing the rig into a concrete barrier.
Calvin Miller, Tavernier, Fla. -- Miller was traveling to Sarasota, Fla.,
in foggy conditions to deliver a load when he saw a two-vehicle accident with
one of the vehicles in flames. Two of the vehicle's occupants, a mother and
father, had escaped the flames but were standing in shock in front of the
burning vehicle. Miller unlocked the back doors and was able to pull the two
girls from the back seat.
Thomas Lawson, Lithonia, Ga. -- Lawson spotted an overturned, smoldering
car lying off the road. He climbed on top of the car as the victim was
reaching his hand out and screaming. With flames rolling around him and
coming out of the window, Lawson was able to pull the driver from the vehicle
before it exploded.
James Sheriff, Homewood, Ill. -- As Sheriff pulled out of a weigh station,
he witnessed a tractor-trailer slam into the back of another truck. He
immediately stopped and helped one of the truck drivers who had been trapped
in his rig as a result of the collision.
Richard Schwieger, Alexandria, Ind. -- Schwieger saw a smoldering car that
only moments earlier had gone off the highway, traveled up an embankment and
collided with a tree. With the assistance of other motorists, he was able to
rescue two of the three victims before the car was engulfed in flames.
Paul Daugherty, Sulphur, Ky. -- Daugherty saw a car swerve several times
before it collided with and then flipped over the guardrail. During the
crash, the vehicle's driver was ejected through the windshield and
subsequently pinned beneath the car. Daugherty administered first aid to the
accident victim while waiting for help to arrive.
Kevin Kincade, Slidell, La. -- Kincade witnessed a car rear-end a van and
watched as the van exploded into flames. As a woman and two children exited
the burning van, Kincade saw that one of the children's clothes was on fire
and he proceeded to extinguish the flames on that child. He then turned his
attention inside the burning vehicle and rescued a man and baby from the
wreckage.
Jim and Francis Chandler, Chesapeake Bay, Md. -- Francis watched as high
winds caused a truck with a camper in tow to jack-knife and then overturn.
Francis and Jim helped pull the injured driver from the wreckage and comforted
her and her husband until help arrived.
Elmer Brow, Norway, Mich. -- Brow witnessed a car fall off the interstate
overpass and then catch fire on impact. He grabbed two fire extinguishers
from his truck and ran over to the smoking vehicle where he was met by two
police officers that had been pursuing the vehicle. While one officer worked
to extinguish the flames, Brow and the other officer pulled the injured driver
from the burning car.
Lee Gruis, Kimball, Minn. -- Gruis rounded a curve and saw an overturned
camper in the middle of the road. Knowing he would never be able to stop in
time, he chose instead to drive his truck off the road and into a snowbank,
thereby preventing a potentially serious accident.
Roy Clifton, Centerview, Mo. -- Clifton witnessed a pickup truck in front
of him loose control on an icy overpass and crash. He parked his rig on the
side of the road and proceeded to walk back to the accident scene to offer
assistance. As he approached the crashed pickup, three additional vehicles
collided; one of which hit the pickup and pinned him between the two vehicles.
Clifton suffered severe injuries as a result of the crash.
Patrick Quintana, Lincoln, Neb. -- While stopped at a rest area, Quintana
heard someone yell for help. He looked over a cliff and saw a man lying on
the ground about 150 feet below. Using the communications equipment in his
truck, Quintana summoned help to the remote area and then made numerous trips
down the side of the cliff to the injured man.
Robin Moran, Las Vegas, Nev. -- Moran pulled into a truck stop and saw a
tractor trailer on fire. By the time he grabbed his fire extinguisher and ran
over to the fire, another truck next to the burning truck began to catch fire.
Moran extinguished the fire in the second truck, pulled the brake and rolled
the truck to safety, saving the valuable trailer full of computers.
Henry Wright, Mullica Hill, N.J. -- Wright had just finished loading his
truck when he saw someone waving frantically on the side of the road. He
stopped his rig and was informed that a car had just crashed and was on fire.
Wright saw a young man was wedged in the car so he took a crow bar to the door
to try and pry it open. Within a few seconds of rescuing the victim from the
wreckage, the car exploded into flames.
Roy McHone Jr., Weaverville, N.C. -- McHone heard over the CB that a fully
loaded truck behind him had lost its brakes and was now barreling down the
mountain and headed straight for town. He lined his truck up with the runaway
truck and allowed it to hit him in order to absorb the impact. The two trucks
bumped together twice and gradually slowed, coming to rest approximately
three-quarters of a mile later.
Ronald Dexter, Sardina, Ohio; and Darryl Buettner, Lima, Ohio -- Buettner
witnessed a van crash into the guardrail and then an embankment. He called
911 immediately and then grabbed a fire extinguisher and ran over to the van.
Buettner doused the flames while Dexter grabbed the people from the van and
took them to safety. The two truck drivers ran to safety and seconds later
the van was engulfed in flames.
Timothy LaPoint, Oklahoma City, Okla. -- LaPoint noticed people on the
side of the road waving frantically and stopped his truck, grabbed the
emergency kit and proceeded to the accident site. A vehicle had crashed in a
ravine about 20 feet below and was lying in about three inches of water. Two
people were on the ground and the driver was pinned inside the vehicle.
LaPoint tried to stabilize the trapped victim until help arrived.
Scott Bucar, Rosco, Pa. -- Bucar came upon an accident scene involving a
truck and car. The truck was on fire with its driver trapped inside. The
driver was unconscious but Bucar was able to bring him around and rescued him
from the cab just before the rig went up in flames.
Marcellos Holmes, Memphis, Tenn. -- Holmes witnessed a car spin out of
control on a rain-soaked roadway and land in a flooded area. He went down to
where the car had gone off into the water. A man got out of the car with a
baby in his hands and started towards the bank. He slipped and fell and
dropped the baby and Holmes immediately rescued the baby and carried it to
safety. Holmes then returned to the car two more times to bring the man and
his wife to shore. Moments later, the car was submerged.
Gordon Hackett, Mead, Wash., and Forest Novak, Elk, Wash. -- Hackett
spotted headlights down in a ravine and a man waving frantically from the side
of the road. Novak summoned help over the CB and Hackett attempted to comfort
the bleeding man. The two wrapped a blanket around the man and talked with
him for over an hour until help arrived.
Robert Tucknott, Paddock Lake, Wisc. -- Tucknott noticed a car attempting
to pass his rig on the right-hand side. The car's driver hit another car
parked on the shoulder and then bounced back into his lane and became lodged
under his trailer. Tucknott stopped his rig and reached through the car's
sunroof to pull the two passengers from the burning wreckage.
In January, four finalists will be selected from the pool of state highway
heroes. The four and their spouses will be Goodyear's guests for an all-
expenses paid trip Feb. 7 - 11 to Nashville, Tenn., where the heroes will be
featured at Goodyear's annual dealer conference.
During their visit, the 1997 Goodyear National Highway Hero will be
announced on The Nashville Network's Prime Time Country television program
airing Feb. 10.
Nominations to the 1998 program are being accepted now through Sept. 30,
1998, by calling 1-800-627-2118 between the hours of 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. (EST),
Monday through Friday. An independent marketing services company receives all
nominations and reviews them to ensure the following necessary criteria are
met: nominee must be a full-time truck driver; nominee must reside in the
U.S.; the incident must have occurred in the U.S.; nominee must be on the job
or on the way to or from work, and in their rig at the time of the incident;
nominee's truck at the time of the incident must have 14 wheels or more;
incident must have occurred between Oct. 1 of the previous year and Sept. 30
of the current year.
Goodyear is one of the world's leading suppliers of new and retreaded
commercial tires to the replacement market and is a major supplier of medium
radial truck tires as original equipment to truck manufacturers.
SOURCE Goodyear