by Steve Bradley
At 7 am Saturday morning, a J & J Trucking driver fell asleep traveling north on Route 22 about three-tenths of a mile south of the state highway department garage. The empty milk tanker truck he was driving went off the east side of the road and tore through the underbrush for approximately 200 feet before coming to a stop. After the truck hit a concrete culvert, everything in the truck’s path was cleared to the dirt, suggesting some of the wheels may have been sheared off.
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Bob Sargood, who lives at the scene, said he heard the truck leave the roadway and looked up from watching the morning news to see the truck and trailer almost on its side as it traveled along the embankment. After the vehicle went into the thick brush and disappeared from view, Sargood called 911 to report a truck rollover.
“I can’t believe it didn’t roll over,” he said, “The whole thing was more on its side than upright when it was going along the banking.”
The driver, who appeared to be about sixty years old, was shaken up but was able to stand after he was pulled up the bank in a basket stretcher. He was then transported by the Petersburgh Rescue Squad to Southwestern Vermont Medical Center. No other vehicles were involved.
The Petersburgh Fire Department, NY State Police and Rensselaer County Sheriffs Department also responded to the scene.[/private]