Two people were flown to the hospital by medical helicopter after a five-vehicle crash caused by a truck on the border of Washington County and Smyth County. The Virginia truck accident took place on Interstate 81, outside of Chilhowie at around 9:30 p.m. on Friday, March 1.
According to the Bristol Herald Courier and other local news sources, the crash took place when a truck traveling southbound on I-81 near the 33-mile marker lost its load—a Ford Mustang drag-racing car. The car fell off of the truck, rolled in the median of the interstate, and continued into the southbound lanes, striking four different vehicles, including a tractor-trailer.
Two people suffered serious injuries in the crash, though Virginia State Police say that there would have been several fatalities if the tractor-trailer driver had not successfully swerved to the right in order to avoid the race car. Both injury victims underwent surgery at Bristol Regional Medical Center.
The driver of the truck carrying the race car, Gregory Boyd, was charged by police with failure to properly secure his load. It is not clear how the car was secured to the truck before the crash or why the car fell off of the truck bed.
The big-rig crash backed up traffic for a considerable distance on Friday night, though the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) reported that accident crews were able to clear part of the road and reopen one lane within two hours of the collision.
The truck accident attorneys at Shapiro, Washburn & Sharpwish both injury victims a swift and complete recovery.