MILTON, Ga. — As Milton police continue their search for a truck from which a 9-pound rock fell and nearly killed a woman, a local attorney told Channel 2 Action News what happened should serve as a warning for truckers.
Patricia Vogel told Channel 2's Mike Petchenik she was driving in Milton Tuesday morning, when the large rock flew off a passing dump truck and into her windshield.
"All I can remember is just hearing a huge boom," she said Thursday. "I never saw anything coming."
The impact left Vogel's hand broken in several places and her SUV totaled. Vogel credits divine intervention for saving her life.
"I just thank God I wasn't killed, and this can happen to anybody," said Vogel.
Petchenik requested data from the Georgia Department of Transportation about how prevalent these kinds of accidents are in the state, but as of Friday afternoon, officials were still collecting that data.
Atlanta personal injury attorney Joe Fried, who specializes in negligence cases involving commercial trucks, told Petchenik Georgia law is very clear when it comes to truck safety.
"It requires that trucks never have loads that are unsecured," he said.
Fried said that based on what police believe happened, he thinks the driver of the truck carrying that rock would be considered liable for what happened.
"This could have been a disaster," he said. "I can't imagine a scenario where the trucker wouldn't be responsible for that because he should have tarped the load."
Fried said the laws are in place, but there are more trucks on the road than police officers to catch violators. He said it's up to the trucking companies to train their drivers to prevent situations such as this.
"Those of you who are out there doing this for a living, take the extra minute, be safe," he said. "Better safe than sorry."
Attorney says truck likely liable in rock, car accident
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