Georgia police say that a truck driver lost his life this afternoon after a load of steel beams crashed through the cab of his truck.
The fatal accident happened on Tuesday, August 27, in Snellville, Georgia, near the intersection of State Route 10/US 78 and State Route 124.
#BREAKING Snellville Police say a Columbus, Ga trucker was killed when his load shifted on West Main Street and he was impaled. @FOX5Atlanta pic.twitter.com/q9wYKcXCmG
— Aungelique Proctor (@aungeliquefox5) August 27, 2019
Police say that 76 year old truck driver William Turnage was eastbound on US 78 when he braked, causing the load shift that claimed his life.
Detective Jeffrey Manley with the Snellville Police Department described the tragic accident to 11Alive: “As the driver applied the brakes, the load which he was hauling was unsecured or not secured well enough, the load broke free and part of the load which was very heavy beams intruded into the cabin. The driver was pinned.”
Turnage was later pronounced dead at the scene.
“It’s a tragedy. It seems fairly rare that a load like that – that heavy – would come forward and intrude into the cab,” said Manley.
It is not yet clear why Turnage braked suddenly. Multiple agencies including the Georgia State Patrol, the Georgia Department of Public Safety’s Motor Carrier Compliance Division, and the Snellville Police Department are working together to investigate the crash. The agencies will be examining the roads for skid marks and collecting surveillance video from nearby businesses to learn more about the cause of the fatal load shift.
For more, you can see an interview with Manley below.