Utility trailer goes airborne, kills 1 in crash
May 13, 2011
CULLMAN — A Hanceville woman was killed Wednesday evening, after a utility trailer being hauled by another vehicle went airborne and landed on her car on Alabama Highway 157.
Jewel Reeves Brock, 65, of Hanceville, was killed instantly when the trailer reportedly crashed through the windshield of her GMC Yukon.
The accident occurred at approximately 5:08 p.m., when a single-axle utility trailer being hauled by Cullman resident Perry Latham came loose around the Lake Catoma bridge in the south side lane of Highway 157. Latham was driving a Ford F-150.
“The trailer disconnected from the truck, struck the bridge side wall and became airborne,” Cullman Police Sgt. Jeff Warnke said. “It then went through the front windshield of a Yukon traveling northbound on Highway 157. She was killed instantly.”
After the trailer fell off Brock’s vehicle, it reportedly came to rest in the southbound lane, where it was struck by a third vehicle driven by Cullman resident James Pintaro.
“That vehicle came to a screeching halt and struck the trailer,” Warnke said. “He had four occupants with him, but there was no one injured.”
The cause of the accident is still under investigation.
“Considering all the safety features normally in place, we’re still trying to figure out exactly how this happened,” Warnke said. “It was just a tragic, freak accident.”
Traffic was blocked for more than an hour and a half, and Warnke said it took authorities quite some time to clear the scene.
“It was backed up for no telling how many miles, all the way into neighborhoods,” he said.
Reports indicate everyone involved was wearing a seatbelt.
‰ Trent Moore can be reached by e-mail at trentm@cullmantimes.com, or by telephone at 734-2131, ext. 220.
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