Man Survives Collision With Tractor-Trailer

ABINGDON, Va. – A 19-year-old Whitetop, Va., man was flown by medical helicopter to Bristol Regional Medical Center on Monday after slamming his vehicle into the back of a tractor-trailer on Interstate 81.

Witnesses of the crash, which happened shortly before 3:30 p.m. at the northbound Exit 19 on-ramp, said it didn’t look like the driver, Bryan Hayes, could have survived – but he did.

“He lived through an accident that was fatal,” said Saltville, Va.’s Andrew Bresnock, who saw the crash from behind. “Any other person, any other car, that would’ve been a fatal accident.”

According to Virginia State Police Trooper John Nixon, charges are pending against the unknown driver who caused the crash.

The tractor-trailer driver was in the right lane when a woman driving a white car in front of the big rig hit her brakes to allow other traffic to merge onto the interstate,

Nixon said. Hayes’ Dodge Durango “ran up underneath the back end of it,” Nixon said, referring to the truck.

The driver of the white car did not stop, the trooper said.

Nixon said the charge would be improper stopping – a moving violation that, according to the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles Web site, carries the same number of license points as driving 1 to 9 miles an hour above the posted speed limit.

Bresnock said when the truck braked to avoid hitting the car, the red SUV just couldn’t slow down fast enough to avoid hitting the truck.

“There was a lady who jumped out in front of the semi and slammed on her brakes,” he said.

“When he [Hayes] first hit the back of the tractor-trailer, the driver of the semi didn’t realize he had hit him and maybe drug him 100 yards. ... I saw the smoke and debris flying everywhere.”

Bresnock said he first called 911 not knowing if anyone had survived, but, though bleeding and in shock, Hayes was talking and moving his legs.
“I said, ‘It’s going to be all right, man. ... What can I do for you?’ ” Bresnock recalled. “He said, ‘Call my girlfriend.’ ”

Bresnock said Hayes, who told him he was an emergency medical technician, then asked him to call MedFlight.

Members of the Abingdon Fire Department spent a tense hour Monday afternoon helping to cut apart Hayes’ crushed vehicle to free him.

Jim Fogleman, captain of the Washington County Lifesaving Crew, said the young man was pinned under the steering wheel on the driver’s side but was in stable condition after being extricated from the vehicle.

MedFlight landed on the interstate.

“It’s hard to tell what kind of internal injuries there [are],” Fogleman said.

Washington County Fire Rescue, Abingdon Ambulance Service and the Washington County Sheriff’s Office also responded to the crash.

Truck driver Mike Bercegeay said he was hauling auto parts from Nashville when the driver in front of him slammed on her brakes. He was able to stop in time, but not Hayes.

“She’s got the right of way, but for some reason she came almost to a stop [to let other drivers merge onto the interstate],” Bercegeay said of the driver ahead of him. “I know you like to be courteous, but I just happened to be right behind her.”

He said motorists should give trucks plenty of room and be conscious of them.

“Keep your eyes open,” he said. “We can’t stop as quick as a car can.”

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