Over 400 Customers Lose Power When Truck Hits Pole On Hwy 97; Driver Cited

April 27, 2014

Over 400 Gulf Power customers in the Molino and Dogwood Park areas lost power this morning when the driver of a truck hit a power pole on Highway 97.

The accident happened about 10:50 a.m.  on Highway 97 just north of Highway 29. The Florida Highway Patrol said 21-year old Vidal Robinson of Atmore was driving the 2013 Isuzu box truck south on Highway 97 when he drifted across the oncoming lane and onto the shoulder where he struck a utility poles.

After hitting the pole, the truck rotated counterclockwise and slid about 70 feet before overturning. Robinson refused medical treatment.

The accident was by the Florida Highway Patrol. The FHP said Robinson was cited for careless driving. The Molino Station of Escambia Fire Rescue, Escambia County EMS and the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office also responded to the accident.

Gulf Power restored power by about 3:15 p.m.

NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.

Comments

11 Responses to “Over 400 Customers Lose Power When Truck Hits Pole On Hwy 97; Driver Cited”

  1. Denise on April 30th, 2014 10:55 am

    Well I am just thankful that my son walk away from this accident safe. I am sorry that you lost lights for a couple of hours, but i could have lost my son for the rest of my life. So i am praising God that my son is still among the living…..

  2. Hmmm.... on April 28th, 2014 4:13 pm

    I’m glad the man in the accident made it out alright…. I had a helluva time during that ordeal myself; while running near empty on gas, as I tried to make it to the Tom Thumb gas station….. Imagine my delight, when I drive up for gas & the dear cashier lady is sitting out front; yelling to me, that they are out of power & no gas is available….what to do??…. Try to make it to Cantonment Raceway with 6 miles left showing on my tank? ….Hmmm, they really need another gas station in the Bratt, Walnut Hill & Molino area….If I won the Lotto, I think I’d build an old fashioned ice cream parlor, with a diner on the side, with just a few gas pumps…(the young folks would enjoy an ice cream parlor)…Anyway, speaking of diners, I ended up at Fran’s Diner, a lovely woman & a great place to eat….. We enjoyed some blueberry cobbler, with sweet tea & waited for the Power trucks, to get the lights & gas pumps running….It was an enjoyable little wait…Kudos to the Power line workers….

  3. Walnut Hill Roy on April 27th, 2014 9:45 am

    I think that Richard has it exactly right, it seems to be the popular (mis)conception that traffic lights will cure all evils, you don’t even have to pay attention to what you are doing.

  4. mnon on April 27th, 2014 9:09 am

    Being twenty-one I bet my check he had his nose in the crack of a cell phone and was not paying attention…. Thanks for ruining a lot of people’s Saturday by your poor driving skills. Kudos.

  5. Billy D on April 27th, 2014 7:32 am

    I got Richards humor. It seems like every tine there’s a wreck somebody wants to install another traffic light. Traffic lights are like ATM’s………they fix EVERYTHING!!

  6. jr on April 27th, 2014 12:11 am

    He refused medical attention then, but I bet he’s feeling a little sore now. I wonder if he was using a refurbished GPS system? they always seem to come about 600 ft short of those turns.

  7. Molino Native on April 26th, 2014 11:09 pm

    Traffic Light would not have made a difference. The intersection was not even a factor in this one.

  8. molino jim on April 26th, 2014 8:37 pm

    @Richard–I hope you are just joking around. The wreck was on 97 and was NOT that close to 29. The truck was southbound on 97 and ran off of the road on the north side of the road. There was a great deal of luck that there was not a northbound car on 97. A traffic light would have been of no value.

  9. mick on April 26th, 2014 6:51 pm

    Yet another driver not in control of the vehicle. There have been 3 others this past week not paying attention to DRIVING!

  10. Rob on April 26th, 2014 6:49 pm

    I’d like to hear him explain this one to the boss at Aarons.

  11. Richard on April 26th, 2014 5:43 pm

    If there had only been a traffic light !!!

Written by Jane · Filed Under News