Damage extensive, injuries limited in Tuesday concrete truck crash
A Cloverdale woman is fortunate to have escaped with minor injuries after her small sedan tangled with a concrete truck Tuesday afternoon.
At around 1:15 p.m., 44-year-old Rebecca Iverson was eastbound on Veterans Memorial Highway when she attempted to make a left turn onto northbound 10th Street.
Iverson apparently misjudged the proximity of a westbound concrete mixing truck and failed to yield the right of way, turning in front of the truck in her 2007 Toyota Corolla.
The driver of the truck, Robert Bills Jr., 55, of Fillmore, had no time to react, striking the sedan in the passenger side rear door area. The impact spun the car 180 degrees, and it came to rest facing southbound on 10th Street, just north of the highway.
The Cash Concrete-owned truck continued westbound into the ditch north of Veterans Highway, striking the embankment and fence on the north side of the ditch.
The truck came to rest with its front end partially against the north wall of ditch and its mixing drum still turning.
A resident nearby on Avenue F said the impact rattled her house.
Iverson was transported to Putnam County Hospital by Operation Life with facial lacerations and complaints of pain. However, Greencastle Police Sgt. Terry Eastham reported that her injuries were minimal considering the force of the impact.
Bills was uninjured in the crash.
The Toyota was totaled by the impact, and the underside damage to the truck was extensive. Eastham estimated damages to be in the $15,000-$25,000 range.
GPD officers Jeff Modlin and Albert Epple assisted at the scene of the crash, as well as the Greencastle Fire Department, Putnam County Emergency Management and Greencastle Building Inspector Dave Varvel.
The crash also caused a diesel fuel leak on the truck, with crews remaining on scene several hours after the crash to clean up the leak.