Drivers identified in I-10 crash

Updated at

10:15 a.m.

One man died in an accident Friday on Interstate 10 in Ascension Parish after a trailer detached from the truck pulling it and struck a pickup headed in the opposite direction, a State Police spokesman said.

Trooper First Class Jared Sandifer identified the victim as David Hammer, 64, of League City, Texas.

The crash occurred about 3:15 p.m. as 35-year-old Michael B. Munson, Donaldsonville, was driving a 2001 Ford F-350 west on I-10, west of La. 73 near the Bluff Road overpass, Sandifer said in a news release.

Munson was pulling an empty utility trailer behind his truck when it came loose, crossed a median and struck Hammer’s 1998 Ford F-150, which was headed east on I-10. The utility trailer crossed the median through an opening between the median cable barriers and a guardrail.

Hammer was wearing a seat belt, but died in the wreck.

Troopers do not suspect either driver of impairment but took toxicology samples for analysis.

The accident came a day after traffic on I-10 East was halted for more than seven hours after an 18-wheeler ran off the road and flipped over near the Siegen Lane exit.

The driver Tony Wells, 51, of Marrero, said another 18-wheeler tried to switch lanes into his lane, which caused him to swerve to avoid the other truck.

Traffic was halted for about seven hours while tow trucks from Road-Runner Towing & Recovery of Baton Rouge tried to maneuver around concrete barriers and other obstacles to pull the big rig upright, then back onto the highway.

Wells was cited for careless operation.

Editor’s note: This article was changed on Dec. 8, 2012, to make clear that the person who was killed was not pulling the utility trailer.

Comments

1) Comment by Ivy - 08/12/2012

That is true, HBR.

2) Comment by Hello Baton Rouge - 08/12/2012

There are no accidents. Every single collision is the result of someone's error.

3) Comment by ebbette - 08/12/2012

Let me guess - it was a State Trooper who cited Wells for careless operation. That is now their SOP for any accident, no matter how plausible the reason. Sometimes an accident is just that - an accident and whose to say a truck didn't swerve in front of him? My son swerved to avoid a dog on Juban Rd and ran off the road, hitting a tree and totaling his truck. The State cop that showed up wrote him a ticket for careless operation. My son fought it in court and won without having to say a word. While the trooper was reading his report, he had a sheepish look on his face and after the judge asked him a few questions to which he already knew the answers - concerning the lack of any shoulder on Juban Rd (none for much of it) and how easy it would be to lose control if one swerved to avoid an animal(very easy) - and the trooper answered honestly and the judge, who obviously knew Juban Rd well as many of us do, dismissed the ticket. The ticket never should have been written in the first place. I wish more people who got those tickets, which are $312 in LP, would fight them. I got a careless operation ticket after my foot slipped off my clutch as I was downshifting and I tapped the trailer hitch of a truck in front of me, causing ZERO damage to the truck (and he didn't file a claim with my insurance company). A State Trooper showed up. If my foot wouldn't have slipped, I wouldn't have had to stop as I was downshifting to slow a bit as the vehicles in front of me had been stopped for someone to turn but were moving again. Then a month later, a texting woman drives off Walker North into the Sanctuary of Judson Baptist Church and does tens of thousands of dollars worth of damage and only get a careless driving ticket. If my foot slipping off the clutch caused me to get a careless operation tickets, hers should have risen to the level of reckless operation. I don't feel I was careless - it was a rare slip of the foot off the clutch pedal but I didn't fight it because I'd have had to pay court cost if I lost and that's over $100 now. I remember the day when, if an officer didn't see a wreck, unless it was extremely bad, no tickets were written. It's easy to see it's all about the money. And was Munson ticketed for something? A man died because his equipment failed.

4) Comment by Woody - 07/12/2012

tigerdragon, you are expecting way too much from this news source. inaccuracy is their normal operating procedure.

5) Comment by TigerDragon - 07/12/2012

Which is it? The title of the story says all lanes west bound are closed but at the bottom of the story it says one lane west bound remains open. It also does not state if any lanes east bound or open or closed but implies they are closed but people are using the shoulder. Perhaps someone could make this clear.