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An Albemarle grand jury has indicted the man accused of accidentally rolling the cement truck he was driving onto a car on Route 53. William Donald Sprouse of Scottsville stands charged with reckless driving and involuntary manslaughter, according to a story in this morning’s Daily Progress. The June 21 accident fatally injured Jessica Lester, the passenger in a car with her husband.
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Wintergreen cranks up snowmaking...
… while Mother Nature cranked Snowshoe with 31″ inches of natural snow this week. Wintergreen plans to open for skiing December 12, while Snowshoe opens this Friday. (2)
Bark brochure available
Albemarle County has put out a barking-dog brochure that advises citizens how to approach their neighbors about their noisy canines, which police prefer, and how to seek civil and/or criminal redress. Also, report property and nuisance incidents to Albemarle police online. (1)
Judge's decision could affect Goode-Perriello race
A hearing on December 8 in U.S. District Court in Richmond could affect the outcome the still-too-close-to-call race for Congress between Rep. Virgil Goode (R-Rocky Mount) and Tom Perriello (D-Ivy). Judge Richard L. Williams will decide whether to count absentee ballots from members of the military mailed past the absentee ballot deadline of Saturday, November 1. It remains unknown just how many of those ballots were from the Fifth District, but attorneys for the presidential campaign of Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) estimate a total of 5,000 absentee ballots had come in after the deadline. Perriello currently leads Goode by 745 votes. (5)
Capshaw's Whole Foods delayed?
First it was gonna be an anchor for Albemarle Place. Then it was going to create a bold entrance for the Hillsdale Connector at Hydraulic Road. Now, the Whole Foods that music mogul Coran Capshaw hoped to develop appears idle, according to this morning’s Daily Progress. However, City spokesperson Ric Barrick says it’s strolling right along. (updated 4:46pm) (1)
Tiger bites 16-year-old zoo guide in Luray
A Bengal tiger at the Luray Zoo responded to a teenage zookeeper’s pat with a bite that caused severe lacerations and other injuries on Sunday, November 16, according to the Harrisonburg Daily News-Record. (2)
I suspect it won’t be too much longer before a Charlottesville Wrecker Service driver will also be indicted for the two deaths he caused a few weeks ago. 19 year old and 22 year old killed when the driver allegedly ran a red light in a large wrecker. There’s a possibility of a third occupant of the vehicle passing away.
Never saw any of this in our local news. Our local reporters just don’t stay on top of the news lately for whatever reason.
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Couple killed on Route 29
09/05/2007
A young King George couple was killed over the weekend when their pickup truck was broadsided by a tow truck which failed to stop for a red light at the intersection of Alanthus Road and Route 29 in Brandy Station.
The accident sent a third passenger to Fairfax Inova Hospital and closed the north-bound lane of the highway for over four hours.
According to Les Tyler of the Virginia State Police, at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 1, Joshua Lee Burke, 22, his wife, Victoria Ashley Burke, 19, and John I. Lizotte, 22, were pulling onto Route 29 during a green light when their 2003 GMC pickup was struck.
The 2006 Kenworth wrecker, driven by Charlottesville resident Alvan Randall Thompson, 54, and owned by Charlottesville Wrecker Service was towing a box truck when it hit the Burke’s truck.
Lizotte was ejected from the vehicle and thrown into the median.
The Burke’s were found inside the pickup and pronounced dead on the scene. No one in the pickup was wearing a seatbelt. Thompson, who was wearing a seatbelt, was uninjured but was charged with failing to obey a traffic signal.
Trooper Jennifer Hathaway investigated the scene, but did not report whether the wrecker was traveling above the recommended speed limit of 45-mph in the area of the intersection. The speed limit at that area of Route 29 is 60-mph.
Tyler did not have any information on the condition of Lizotte, who was flown by Medivac from the scene.
Not sure this would be noticed by local news - Brandy Station is north of Culpeper, is it not? Kind of off the beaten path. Is this a case of local news hounds not paying attention, or more a case of something that involved a local resident that may not have made the radar screens?
Music Lover, the press had no trouble picking up on the death Lethal Wrecker caused out of state. Why would they have trouble picking up news 35 miles away?
The Cement Truck incident of 53:
I have heard from another driver (not saying any names) at that company that the trucks were routinely overloaded.
I think its a shame the driver was charged and the company is not being sued. He probably was in fear of losing his job if he blew the whistle about overloading.
Because a cement truck carries its weight up high, and it is a “wet” cargo….ie slosh can occur, cement trucks are extra vulnerable to cargo shift and rollover.
I’m a licensed commercial driver with over 1,000,000 safe miles, and have seen the accident location.
Speed could have made things worse, but not caused the accident. Overloading and stability issues are to blame. The concrete company is to blame, but the higher ups that own all the concrete companies here are probably buddies with Jim CamBlows.
Why was the truck on Hwy 53?
It was originating at Zion Crossroads (on interstate 64) and there is also an exit at Hwy 20 near PVCC so why take a big truck over Monticello Mountain?
The answer:
To avoid size and weight enforcement agents common on I64 and Hwy250. Think about it. The concrete was not being delivered to an address on Hwy 53 so why drive that cumbersome road.
Joe G, the company will be sued, you can bank on that. Based on the particular driver’s past history and driving record.
The road between Michie Tavern and just pass where this accident occurs is about the most traveled secondary road in the county. It is also the most unsafe. The roads are narrow, the banking is not appropriate for the size vehicles travelling through there. (Trailways buses tractor trailers and cement trucks). It’s just not a safe road. If it had been widen and straighten somewhat, it would be a much safer road to travel. I suspect speed and load shift were the main factors in this accident, but the road itself is dangerous even when not carrying heavy loads. This road is as bad as Rio road was prior to it being straighten and widen a few years ago.
What a sad thing to happen. But curiosity makes me wonder why, on March 7, 2007, when an off duty Buckingham Co. Sheriff’s Department deputy, in uniform, while driving his personal car, hit ans killed someone on Route 20 in Albemarle County, not only was it not reported by ANY newspaper, but the deputy was charged only with reckless driving!!!!!!!!???????? See case number GT07004295-00 on line.
I think its a shame that the driver was charged and the company is not being sued. He probably was in fear of losing his job if he blew the whistle about overloading. I think speed and load shift were the main factors because of that there will be an accident, but in many cases the road will be like that, very very dangerous so that they cant even carry heavy loads. But the main factor which they should keep in mind is SAFETY.
It is not only enough to get the quantitative service, but it must also be qualitative one. That means, the service provided by the trucking company must be good and they must be honest to us. We get only few companies like this who provide all these. But one of them I found with all this. So, if you want see how honest and good my service was just log on to “Trucking”. Hope this gives you enough information about trucking and trucking jobs.