Tractor-trailer dangles from highway overpass after North Carolina crash, photos show
The top of a tractor-trailer dangled from a highway overpass after it flipped in a Western North Carolina crash, photos show.
The crash caused the truck — which had been carrying cardboard — to spill its load onto the road below on Monday, Oct. 24, according to the N.C. State Highway Patrol and pictures from news outlets.
The Jackson County Sheriff’s Office reported the crash at about 1 p.m. on U.S. highways 23 and 74. It happened on the westbound ramp for exit 85.
Photos that The Sylva Herald and WLOS posted online show the truck lying on its side, with its mangled top hanging off a bridge. Cardboard can be seen on the ground below.
The truck crashed after troopers said it traveled at a “high rate of speed” around the curve of the exit ramp. The truck’s load shifted, causing it to go off the road, hit a guardrail and overturn, state trooper Tyson Crawford told McClatchy News in a phone interview.
The crash shut down the westbound lanes of Highway 74 as officials diverted traffic. At about 8:45 p.m., one lane remained closed and efforts to clean up the cardboard continued.
The crash was cleared as of about 11:45 p.m., the N.C. Department of Transportation wrote on Twitter.
No one was injured, and the truck driver was charged with “exceeding the posted speed limit,” officials said.
Jackson County is home to Sylva, roughly 50 miles southwest of the mountain tourist destination of Asheville.
This story was originally published October 25, 2022 at 9:54 AM with the headline "Tractor-trailer dangles from highway overpass after North Carolina crash, photos show."
