Trucker Called Hero After Blocking Madison Wreck Site
One Person Dies, Two Others Injured In Crash
Updated: 7:32 am CDT May 3, 2007
MADISON, Wis. -- A trucker is being hailed as a hero after he maneuvered his rig to block the scene in Madison where three vehicles had already crashed, killing one person, police said.
VIDEO: Watch The ReportPolice spokesman Mike Hanson said one person was killed and two others were injured on Wednesday in the crash on the Beltline.According to authorities, an eastbound car crossed the median and hit two cars in the westbound lanes. The incident occurred at about 6:45 a.m., just west of Verona Road and about a half mile east of Whitney Way, WISC-TV reported.Hanson said that's when the trucker used his semi to block the westbound lanes and keep other drivers from going into the wreck.The west Beltline was closed for several hours as the police cleared the crash scene. Authorities reopened it to traffic shortly before 11 a.m."Investigators still need to talk to witnesses about this, reconstruct the scene and do some testing on people's abilities, and from there we'll try to make a determination of what caused this scene," said Mike Hanson, public information officer at the Madison Police Department. "But as for now, it's still under investigation."Police confirmed that one person was killed in the wreck. The Dane County Coroner's Office identified the victim as Justin A. Exner, 23, of Adams. An autopsy performed on Wednesday afternoon found that Exner died of major blunt force trauma, WISC-TV reported.Two people hurt in the crash were rushed to University of Wisconsin Hospital. Both are listed in serious condition.Emergency crews responding to the crash said they had a difficult time getting to the scene and that they lost valuable minutes because they couldn't get some drivers to move out of the way.Lt. Lance Langer, of the Madison Fire Department, said that he couldn't get his ladder truck through, so he got out and started knocking on the windows of vehicles blocking the way."I know one gentleman was on his cell phone; another gentleman was eating a muffin," Langer said.Firefighters said that most of the drivers just didn't realize that the fire department was there."People need to be more observant -- get off the cell phones, get off the text messaging, pay attention to what's going on," Langer said.Langer estimated that it took three minutes longer than it should have to get to the scene."It's very frustrating. The city trains to a high level of expertise, and we're not able to use those skills until we get there," he said. "And all of the sudden now we're stuck in traffic. We don't train for that."Stay tuned to WISC-TV and Channel 3000 for continuning coverage.
VIDEO: Watch The ReportPolice spokesman Mike Hanson said one person was killed and two others were injured on Wednesday in the crash on the Beltline.According to authorities, an eastbound car crossed the median and hit two cars in the westbound lanes. The incident occurred at about 6:45 a.m., just west of Verona Road and about a half mile east of Whitney Way, WISC-TV reported.Hanson said that's when the trucker used his semi to block the westbound lanes and keep other drivers from going into the wreck.The west Beltline was closed for several hours as the police cleared the crash scene. Authorities reopened it to traffic shortly before 11 a.m."Investigators still need to talk to witnesses about this, reconstruct the scene and do some testing on people's abilities, and from there we'll try to make a determination of what caused this scene," said Mike Hanson, public information officer at the Madison Police Department. "But as for now, it's still under investigation."Police confirmed that one person was killed in the wreck. The Dane County Coroner's Office identified the victim as Justin A. Exner, 23, of Adams. An autopsy performed on Wednesday afternoon found that Exner died of major blunt force trauma, WISC-TV reported.Two people hurt in the crash were rushed to University of Wisconsin Hospital. Both are listed in serious condition.Emergency crews responding to the crash said they had a difficult time getting to the scene and that they lost valuable minutes because they couldn't get some drivers to move out of the way.Lt. Lance Langer, of the Madison Fire Department, said that he couldn't get his ladder truck through, so he got out and started knocking on the windows of vehicles blocking the way."I know one gentleman was on his cell phone; another gentleman was eating a muffin," Langer said.Firefighters said that most of the drivers just didn't realize that the fire department was there."People need to be more observant -- get off the cell phones, get off the text messaging, pay attention to what's going on," Langer said.Langer estimated that it took three minutes longer than it should have to get to the scene."It's very frustrating. The city trains to a high level of expertise, and we're not able to use those skills until we get there," he said. "And all of the sudden now we're stuck in traffic. We don't train for that."Stay tuned to WISC-TV and Channel 3000 for continuning coverage. Previous Story:
- May 2, 2007: 1 Killed, 2 Hurt In West Beltline Crash
Copyright 2007 by Channel 3000. The Associated Press contributed to this report. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
