A 36-ton cement pumper truck from downstate after it was winched back to the state Rt. 30, a process that took several hours after the driver lost control and crashed at the intersection of County Rt. 8 in the town of Roxbury. There were no injuries.
A tow truck from Gersters Triple E Towing winches a large cement pumper back to the highway last Wednesday after GPS took the driver over Scudder Hill and other back roads.
By Liz Page
ROXBURY – A downstate truck driver escaped injury last Wednesday as the truck he was operating lost control and crashed along state Rt. 30 in the town of Roxbury.
The large truck that pumps cement crashed near the intersection of County Rt. 8, tying up traffic and keeping first responders busy for several hours as a towing company, along with other equipment was brought in to remove the truck, according to Roxbury Constable Stephen Williamson.
Fortunately, said Williamson, there were no injuries and he believes geopositioning systems (GPS) need to remove county and town roadways from the system for truck drivers, which is what contributed to this crash.
The truck, driven by Agusta "Angel" Deleon, of Far Rocakway, was traveling from New York City to the Oorah Girls Camp Division on South Gilboa Road in the town of Gilboa where they are undertaking a large building project.
In interviewing the driver, Williamson said the operator said he was following his GPS from the Fleischmanns area, which took him over the mountain via Big Red Kill Road onto Dimmick Mountain Road to Denver-Vega Road to Scudder Hill Road (County Rt. 8) and on down to state Route 30. He told Williamson his brakes failed and he lost control at the intersection with Rt. 30 and the rig traveled across the highway where it struck trees and ended about 10 feet from the stream. Although the accident is still under investigation, according to Williamson, it is possible the brakes overheated due to the trip down the mountain.
Assisting at the scene were the Roxbury, Halcottsville and Grand Gorge fire departments, in addition to Gersters Triple E Trucking and Hubbell's equipment. Williamson said it took a backhoe, a bulldozer and two wreckers to upright the truck and get it back onto the highway.
No school buses were traveling through at the time, and it missed any traffic on state Route. 30.
"I think the county and the town should have these steep local roadways closed to these heavyweight trucks," said Williamson.
The cement pumper weighed 36 tons and had traveled a windy and steep route. Roads that are not equipped for that type of traffic, according to Williamson.
"I give a lot of credit to the firefighters and the others. My hat goes off to them, they did a very good job. Let's hope this never happens again." said Williamson.
Roxbury Fire Chief James Bouton agrees there should be restrictions placed on large trucks using the back roads. He said there was a very bad accident along West Settlement Road previously and this is at least the third long duration accident they have responded to in a year, where large trucks have been negotiating back roads. Roxbury was on the scene from 11:45 a.m. to 6:15 p.m.. He said this accident could have been much worse. State Rt. 30 was closed and traffic rerouted for about an hour and first responders directed traffic at the scene throughout the day.
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