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County Driver Charged After Being Trapped Nearly Two Hours In 9 Mile Crash
July 29, 2010
An Escambia County Road Department work truck driver has been charged following a wreck on Nine Mile Road in which he was trapped for nearly two hours Thursday afternoon.
The Florida Highway Patrol says Robert J. Harvey, 59, of Pensacola, was eastbound on Nine Mile Road at 2:05 p.m. when he attempted to stop for a red light at Guidy Lane, near Hillcrest Baptist Church. The trailer on Harvey’s truck jackknifed, pulling the 1998 Ford truck into a traffic signal pole. A bobcat on the trailer broke loose and came to rest in a nearby ditch.
Harvey was seriously injured in the crash, according to the FHP. Firefighters worked until about 3:45 to free him from the cab of the truck. He was airlifted to Sacred Heart Hospital.
The Florida Highway Patrol charged Harvey with careless driving.
For more pictures from the scene, click here.
Pictured above and below: An Escambia County employee was trapped for nearly two hours Thursday afternoon in a crash at Nine Mile Road at Guidy Lane near Hillcrest Baptist Church. Pictured inset: Escambia County Sheriff David Morgan directs traffic. NorthEscambia.com photos by Kristi Smith, click to enlarge.
Comments
30 Responses to “County Driver Charged After Being Trapped Nearly Two Hours In 9 Mile Crash”
Well we talked to Harvey Saturday night and he was doing as good as he good be. Harvey is the best and we think alot of him. Thank God for good drivers out there that drive big trucks. My husband drives a big truck for the county and he was so upset because he told him it could have been him. Trying to stop for a light or not, going down any hill and watch out for other drivers and people pulling out in front of you. You can;t said you hadn’t ever tried to beat a vehicle, don;t want to wait, and just got lucky. You try to think the unexpected but it may come back on you. Praying for you Harvey, see you soon.
Makes one wonder if the trailer brakes were functioning properly, or functioning at all.
When I towed a 26ft 6500lb camper up north, I found that the Trailer wou ld get really squirrely in a hurry if the trailer brakes werent right. I found if I set them to grab just as I depressed the pedal, it would stop straight as an arrow.
Also, wonder if the load shifted on their trailor?
Thank goodness no one was killed.
Drive safe everyone and have a good weekend.
Any where you see a camera, you’ll find Mr. Morgan. Election must be getting close.
Harvey,
I sure hope you are doing ok my prayers are with you for a speedy recovery. For those of you that don’t know Harvey I have drove with him when I was working with him at the Road Department and he was always a CAREFUL driver and things happen when you are driving big trucks that you sometimes can’t avoid, like not being able to stop on a dime and people pulling out in front of a load truck that can’t stop that quick. Make sure when you are driving down the road and you pull out you don’t really know if you are pulling out in front of a loaded truck or not. Now that I have got that off my chest thank god no one else was hurt in this accident, thanks to a careful driver(Harvey) that did avoid hitting other cars that might have been in his path making the turn off of Guidy Ln onto 9 Mile rd. Take care Harvey.
Ginger
REGARDING:
“I’m not sure if David Green was trying to argue against me, but it helped prove my point.”
I’m glad I helped you prove your point.
I’m sure we all hope he is doing okay as he seemed to be from what was in the paper, giving folks the thumbs-up as they worked to release him, for example.
That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t look for causes and ways to reduce such events in the future. We can do that without demonizing the ones who had crashes. If it offends anyone to look for natural causes rather than just assume every event had a supernatural cause, then those will never look for ways to reduce problems.
Such people will say, “Well, if I get drunk and drive down the road at 100 miles per hour with my eyes closed, it’s in the Lord’s hands and His fault if I kill anyone or am killed.” I don’t see it but it takes all kinds to fill up the world.
My good friend, SW, has already pointed out that 95% of crashes were caused by bad decisions. I would not be surprised to find that many of the other 5% mechanically based were related to bad decisions to not replace tires or fix brakes or adjust headlights or suchlike.
Driving carelessly does not just mean driving above the posted speed limit. It includes driving too fast to respond reasonably with the load you are carrying or pulling, with the tires you are using, with the road conditions you are facing. Many of us thought we were driving safely only to discover the hard way we weren’t.
David for not blaming the Lord
REGARDING:
“I cautiously use Wikipedia as a reference since it is not the most reliable avenue for information; it did have a tone of validity, though.”
I agree. For example, look up Redneck in it and you find two different sources for the term. Most likely one of them is wrong. I favor the one dealing with sunburned necks from manual labor, especially since I can’t imagine the term taking hold throughout the South if it came from Pennsylvania like I think the other says.
One benefit of Wikipedia is that it doesn’t try to prove its point by selective reporting, since anybody can put in their two cents’ worth.
I assume the Georgia requirements were correct since there is no reason to fake them and they seem sensible to my untrained mind.
David for impartial observers
(like cameras?)
I wasn’t saying the FHP was wrong. I know they are trained to analyze these situations. However, many people were saying he should have been more careful and I was just saying that accidents can happen whether you’re being careful or not. Maybe he was driving too fast or not being cautious, but regardless of the situation, people should be praying for the man instead of criticizing his driving. I understand as a former officer you’ve worked with accidents and had your experience in such fields, but God may have wanted to show someone something through the scene of the accident; thus the accident being what I would call a freak accident. Maybe there’s a better word for it but freak accident was what came to mind. By the way, I know anyone can be involved in a crash regardless of how safe they are. My brother and step father were killed in an accident in 2008 and they weren’t at fault.
And I’m not sure if David Green was trying to argue against me, but it helped prove my point.
well said Megan.
everyone be careful on the roads… lots of wrecks lately. =/
Hey ■Anonymous I dont care about your proper grammer. It was late and Im so sorry that i didnt impress you with my comment. Ooops I didnt capitalize my “I” in the last sentence. Anyway Mr Harvey is going to be fine. One thing people are forgetting is that maybe it was a mechanical failure. I havnt spoke Mr Harvey yet but its a possibility. He is the safest driver in the county I assure you!
prayers for a speedy recovery.
REGARDING:
“how do you know he wasn’t being careful? ”
Almost all drivers are careful. The question is one of whether or not he was being careful enough. If the trailer jack knifed, that answers the question.
By the way, I once thought I was driving carefully enough until the light at Marlane and Mobile Highway went amber and I tried to stop on a slightly wet road only to find myself and 6-01 skidding slightly sideways and partly out into the intersection ere it stopped.
Thus I thought I was driving safely, but was even more cautious afterward.
The proof is in the pudding.
This is not to blame but simply an observation.
@ Megan
As a safety professional and a former law enforcement officer (who has been trained and has worked countless motor vehicle crashes), I don’t believe there is such a thing as a freak accident. A root cause analysis will determine exactly the factors that lead up to this incident. But just as a note, Liberty Mutual Insurance company has discovered, through research, that 95% of motor vehicle crashes are a result of bad decisions and the remaining 5% is due to mechanical issues.
FHP will make (and has apparently made) the call; if they are charging him, they must have evidence that some unsafe act contributed to this. Any driver, at any time, regardless of how skilled or safe, can be involved in a motor vehicle crash and can be at fault.
@ David Green
While I don’t argue with your post, I cautiously use Wikipedia as a reference since it is not the most reliable avenue for information; it did have a tone of validity, though.
Unless you were right behind this truck driver as someone mentioned they were, how do you know if the truck driver was being a careless driver? You can sit on the sidelines and say he should have been more careful or he was driving too fast, but how do you know he wasn’t being careful? What if you were driving down the road and hit somebody coming across? Does that mean you were driving too fast or carelessly? People should be praying for this man and his family instead of trying to criticize his driving. Just because you think you know everything about everything doesn’t make you any better than anyone else. Consider another person’s feelings before you go around bashing them for something that may have just been a freak accident.
Eveyone has their own opinions. However, I have drove a “big” truck and I drive a passenger vehicles. Golden rule, when you are pulling ANY type of trailer, you never go faster than you can stop. Big Truck, Little Truck, Big Wheel with a dump cart on it!! This is the kind of mistakes that can kill you or someone else. Now with that being said-I am glad to hear that Mr Harvey will recover and that there were no serious injuries. Close call, gone good!
First of all, Mr. HArvey I wish you a speedy recovery, and I am so glad you were not hurt any worse than you are, second all of us can be the best drivers in the world and make a mistake, we are only human after all. I know I am a good driver I have to drive everyday all day and I will still catch myself every now and then doing something that makes for a close call. (we all do.) There were prisoners there to clean up the mess and the guards were concerned for thier co.worker. Concerned mother is right if you ever had to drive a large rig you would be more understanding, I know for a fact that Mr. Harvey is one of the most safety minded people I know in all aspects of his life. He probably had a choice to make , try to stop or blow through the light and it just didnt work out for him, but he involved no one else. I wish everyone had to ride in a large rig before getting thier license there would be less pulling out and weaving in traffic. They will not stop on a dime like your pickup or car so remember that before doing something stupid.
REGARDING:
“Any of you traffic engineers out there have any other ideas?”
I’m not one but consider the thoughts of traffic engineers and legislators from around the country.
From Wikipedia on traffic signals:
“It is typical for these times to vary according to the set speed limit, with longer times for higher limits. In the state of Georgia, United States, an amber light must be lit one second for every 10 mph of posted speed limit. In this situation, a 45 mph posted speed limit would have a 4.5 second amber light. For intersections with red light cameras, 1 extra second must be added. In Colorado Springs, Colorado, green lights at numerous intersections have been noted with durations of approximately two seconds. [which if so, means Colorado isn't actually wanting to let folks through the intersection legally. dhg]
The time from when a red light is displayed and when a cross street is given a green light is usually based on the physical size of the intersection. This intervening period is called the all-red time. A typical all-red time is 3 seconds to allow cars to clear the intersection. In a wider intersection, such as 4 lane road or highway intersection, the all-red time may be as much as 5 seconds, allowing drivers who could not stop at the amber light enough time to clear the intersection without causing a collision.”
My only addition I have mentioned before, have the amber light spell out how many seconds remain.
Beyond that we have the human element. If you can’t stop without the danger of jackknifing at a given speed, you might consider driving at a speed at which you CAN stop even if it is slower than the posted limit.
Just a thought.
O.K. He works for the couty road dept. And the prisoners was in antother truck that stopped and helped…
I really think the cause of these kinds of accidents is simply that the traffic lights are too short (yellow) and give no warning of when the green light will time out.
Here, you have a traffic light that suddenly goes yellow for its normal ~3 seconds and it doesn’t seem to take into account that:
– the light is at the bottom of a hill
– there’s a heavy truck coming down the hill, towing a trailer, hauling a bobcat.
People are so scared of getting tickets (and now the potential traffic light cameras will only make this worse) that they will slam on the brakes to make an abrupt stop. For a passenger car, not a problem. But for larger trucks, drivers need a longer ‘yellow’ time, or a way to know when the light is about to turn yellow. Perhaps have the solid green go to a flashing green for 3 seconds before the yellow.
Any of you traffic engineers out there have any other ideas?
Truck drivers cant get a break. If he would have ran the light he would be charged with murder for hitting a car.
I am a truckers daughter, grand daughter, wife and sister. You and your family are in my prayers.
Please stop bashing each other and keep focused on the situation
You are in my prayers,
To co-worker;
Nobody wrote any false reports, what are you talking about? By the way, opinion is spelled with only one “p”
Also, I think you were trying to say “there WEREN’T any prisoners.”
God bless you Harvey! Hope you heal quickly..
If you say there were no prisoners, then who are the people in the orange jump suits in the pictures? Praying for a speedy recovery.
First there wasnt any prisoners and this employee NEVER speeds or drives carelessly! He is an outstanding christian man and I assure you that if it is indeed his fault it wasnt from careless driving! He always drives 5 mph UNDER the speed limit! So please be careful when posting false reports or oppinions when trying to discredit this man!
No vest on! What was the Sheriff doing! Don’t we have a trained traffic unit.
I was directly behind the dump truck and YES it was terrifying!!! Does anyone know as it happened so fast how in the heck the trailer in the back made it to the side of the road without hitting anyone? It was very close to me when it swung around right before it jacknifed. Does anyone know the status of the driver?
For the people that were there the bystanders I was so proud of the people in our community who came out of their cars and ran over to see if the driver was okay. Also thanks to our firefighters and EMT’s for all your work getting him out of the car. I can only hope that if for some unfortunte reason I was in an accident I would want those brave men there helping me. You guys ROCK! My husband and I will keep the driver in our prayers.
Dana
I hope the driver is going to be ok. It is impressive to see the sheriff directing traffic, it nice to see that he will get on the streets with his men and women
Airlifted? West Florida Hospital is just 2 miles away. Looks like the heavy truck took out the traffic light.
I witnessed this whole crash. It was seriously scary.
wow… hope the driver is ok. As if the accident isn’t bad enough on its own, being trapped in this heat, possibly injured? Thoughts and prayers…