By Jeff Adelson
The Times-Picayune
ST. TAMANY, La. — An 18-wheeler hauling sand clipped the back of another truck, then crushed a sport utility vehicle and hit a car on the twin spans Tuesday afternoon, shutting down the westbound bridge for about 90 minutes and creating a miles-long traffic jam on Interstate 10 in the Slidell area.
No one was seriously injured in the accident, which began when Gregory Parker, 40, of Picayune, Miss., tried to change lanes in heavy traffic at about 1:30 p.m.
Parker, who was hauling sand to a cement plant in New Orleans, was driving in the right lane behind Eric Holston, who was driving another 18-wheel truck for the same company, when he tried to shift into the left lane, State Police said. Parker’s truck was going too fast and clipped the back of the other 18-wheeler, blowing out one of the tires on Holston’s truck, Holston said.
Parker said he didn’t realize how slowly traffic was moving at about the midpoint of the bridge.
As Parker’s truck crossed into the left lane, his trailer smashed into a GMC SUV, crushing it against the guardrail, Holston said. The truck dragged the SUV for at least 20 yards down the road before the cab of the truck hit the curb and was lifted into the air, coming down on the rear end of a Daewoo in front of it, said Juanita Gammage, the car’s driver.
“If I hadn’t hit my gas, it would be right on top of me,” said Gammage, who saw the accident unfolding in her rearview mirror. Her husband, Henry Gammage, who was riding in the passenger seat, said the collisions sounded “like a bomb going off” behind the car.
Parker’s truck came to a stop with the SUV still pinned against the railing and tilting over the edge of the bridge.
The two occupants of the SUV were taken to NorthShore Regional Medical Center in Slidell with what troopers described as “very minor injuries.”
“This is unbelievable, that someone could walk away from that,” St. Tammany Parish Fire District 1 Deputy Chief Theodore Macke said.
As emergency responders cleared the cars and shoveled spilled sand and debris from the road, motorists stuck on the bridge passed the time speculating about the accident, chatting with nearby drivers and in one case casting fishing lines off the side of the bridge.
The four occupants of one car used the opportunity to take a nap, and they woke only when the drivers behind them began honking.
One lane was opened at the accident site at about 3 p.m. Both lanes were open by 4:30 p.m., authorities said.
State Police cited Parker with careless driving, spokesman Trooper Louis Calato said.