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68-year old Clyde Paul Crawford was killed when the delivery van he was driving collided with and 18-wheeler hauling logs Tuesday at around 1:00 P.M. at the intersection of Highway 31 and Huntsville Brownsferry Rd. in Tanner. Roads in both directions were closed at the intersection until around 8:00 P.M. The 18-wheeler overturned spilling large timber logs that had to be gathered and removed with special equipment.

According to Athens Police Chief Floyd Johnson, Crawford was pronounced dead at the scene. The driver of the 18-wheeler, 68-year old John Lawson Oden of Sumerville, was flown to Huntsville hospital. Alabama State Troopers, Athens Police and Athens Fire and Rescue were at the scene that took hours to map, record and clean up.

The cause of the accident is under investigation. What is known so far is that according to Athens Police Chief Johnson the 18-wheel logger was headed south on Highway 31 and the delivery van headed east on Brownsferry when the collision occurred. It is obvious that one or both vehicles ran the stop. Local residents said that this is a dangerous intersection and that there have been three accidents at this intersection in the past month. Many locals are afraid to cross the intersection, even when they have a green light as the road is home to so many speeding 18-wheelers. The speed limit is 65 and many feel that it would be safer if at a minimum it were reduced to 55 mph and that there were signs posted to warn oncoming traffic to reduce speed as a traffic light is ahead.

Crashes involving large vehicles like 18-wheelers and package delivery trucks rarely result in both drivers walking away unscathed and the above crash is no exception. Drivers of 18-wheelers normally work long hours and often suffer from fatige in having to get their cargo to a certain location by a certain time. Package truck drivers are subject to even harsher deliver time requirements and will drive recklessly and bend the law to get their packages where they are going on time.

If you or a loved one has been injured or killed as a result of a truck crash due to the negligence or recklessness of an 18-wheeler or a package delivery truck, please call Ferguson & Ferguson today.