CHELYAN, W.Va. — A truck driver and a West Virginia Turnpike toll collector walked away from an unusual collision late Sunday night.
Turnpike general manager Greg Barr said the driver of a tractor trailer was approaching northbound lane 9 of the Chelyan toll plaza in Kanawha County at about 10:30 p.m. when he lost control of the rig and slammed into the lane 10 toll booth.
“He got into the lane and then somehow got tangled up and jumped the curb and veered to the right,” Barr said.
The turnpike has two protective measures for each toll booth, including concrete barriers with rebar, but the truck driver had passed those before his problems started.
Barr said it was amazing the toll worker wasn’t injured.
“He was working lane 10 and this truck came through lane 9 and jumped the curb and hit his booth from the other side,” Barr said. “I think his tires probably hit the curb and then climbed up the curb and clipped the booth.”
The toll booth was pushed into lane 10 and it remained closed Monday morning with repair work taking place. An investigation was underway into what caused the crash.
The Parkways Authority recently agreed to install rumble strips in the oncoming toll booth lanes at all three toll plazas as an additional measure to warn motorists to slow down, Barr said.
“We already have signs to do that but maybe if they are in a zone or something when they’re driving those rumble strips would be enough to kind of jolt them to say, ‘what’s going on’ so they can reassess and slow down,” Barr said.