Truck Driver Falls Asleep, Drives Off Route 7
By Steve Bradley
A tractor-trailer driver who left Keene, New Hampshire around 7 am Saturday, August 24, fell asleep and crossed over into the other lane and down an embankment along Route 7. The call went out at 9:15 for Hoosick Fire and the Town of Hoosick Rescue Squad to respond. The accident was just west of the Shingle Hollow Brook parking area.
The westbound truck, empty at the time, went over the bridge and continued straight over the double yellow line into the eastbound lane, then sliced the drivers side skin off a Vermont registered late model Ford Focus, flipping it onto its roof, and through the guard rail and down the embankment, where it ended up on its side. The truck driver was unhurt, while one of the car’s occupants was transported to Southwest Vermont Medical Center in Bennington with non-life threatening injuries.
Traffic was able to pass in one direction for a time after the mishap. The road was shut down completely from Brunswick to Hoosick while the truck and trailer were dragged up to the roadway and removed, with motorists using Route 2 as a detour.