Woman hurt after car hit by loaded trailer

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Herald-Sun, The (Durham, NC)
November 17, 1999

Edition: Final
Section: Durham
Page: C3

Topics:
Index Terms:
Traffic accidents;Injuries
Woman hurt after car hit by loaded trailer
Author: KAMMIE MICHAEL The Herald-Sun

Article Text:

A Durham woman was seriously injured when a trailer loaded with landscaping supplies broke loose from a truck and slammed into a car on Old Chapel Hill Road near the New Hope Creek bridge Monday morning, police reported. Jane Sherman of Kelly Drive was in serious and stable condition Tuesday at Duke University Hospital, where she was being treated for head and facial injuries.

The accident happened around 9:12 a.m. when a "low boy" trailer pulled loose from an eastbound dump truck driven by Fausto Ruiz Molina of Jones Ferry Road in Carrboro, said Durham Police Investigator Michael Goodwin of the Traffic Services Division. The trailer crossed the center line and crashed into a westbound Mitsubishi driven by Sherman.

The trailer's tongue assembly crashed through the windshield and penetrated the passenger area, Goodwin reported. A Dodge van, driven by Karen Grissom of Chesden Drive, which was behind the Mitsubishi on Old Chapel Hill Road, was also damaged. Durham firefighters from Rescue 1, Rescue 5 and Engine 5 spent almost 40 minutes working to remove Sherman from her mangled car. Firefighters first had to use high-rise jacks and wood blocks to stabilize the trailer, which was wedged against the car.

They then used a Hurst tool, commonly known as the Jaws of Life, to cut away sections of the car to reach Sherman. Parkwood medics treated Sherman at the scene until she was transported to Duke by LifeFlight helicopter. Grissom, Molina and two passengers in the dump truck - Ramon Diaz of Carrboro and Earl Brewer of Pittsboro - were not injured, Goodwin said. Traffic was rerouted for almost three hours. The accident is still under investigation.

Copyright, 1999, The Durham Herald Company
Record Number: 0338052289