An Averitt Express driver was charged with hit-and-run when the tractor-trailer he was driving struck a house while he negotiated a U-turn and caused the structure to collapse. Mayodan, NC, police said the trucker left the scene unaware that he had hit anything or that the house was damaged, reported GoDanRiver.com.
There were no eyewitnesses to the accident, but a passerby spotted the Averitt truck leaving the area immediately after the house was knocked off its foundation and fell. “No one actually witnessed the accident, but someone saw a tractor-trailer headed down Second Avenue just after the incident,” said Police Chief Charles Caruso.
The caller said the truck looked like an Averitt Express rig so police contacted the carrier. “They said one of their trucks had been in the Mayodan area about that time and called for directions because the driver was lost,” Caruso told GoDanRiver.com. “They contacted the driver and had him come to Mayodan to find out what happened.”
Robert Wayne Radford, the driver, admitted he had been in the area and had made a U-turn, but didn’t feel hitting anything. Police said there was no visible damage to the trailer. “But when the officers checked underneath the trailer, they found pieces of wood from the house,” he said. “The driver said if those pieces were from the house, then he must have hit it.”
“I have to admit that I find it odd that a truck driver could hit something like a house and not know it,” Caruso said. “But I’ve talked to other truck drivers and a state patrolman that assured me it’s possible. When you’re pushing around 60,000 pounds, I guess bumping something off a foundation could go unnoticed. The important thing is that no one was hurt and the damage to the house will be paid for.”
Averitt Express has agreed to pay for the damages to the house.
