In this photo from Dec. 16, 2011, potatoes fall out of a truck on I-40 outside of Lebanon after a tow truck tried to right the overturned tractor trailer. The interstate was blocked for nearly 18 hours.NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - State safety and transportation officials have unveiled new protocols aimed at getting major highways reopened more quickly after crashes.
Tennessee Transportation Commissioner John Schroer and Tennessee Safety Homeland Security Commissioner Bill Gibbons announced the new rules on Thursday in Nashville.
Among them: a goal of 90 minutes maximum to re-open highways at crash sites, a reassessment of a wreck situation every 30 minutes and new rules regarding towing companies.
The departments began working on new procedures in December after a truck carrying potatoes crashed in Wilson County, closing Interstate 40 for nearly 12 hours and stranding hundreds of motorists overnight.
The tractor-trailer was carrying about 40,000 pounds of potatoes when it crashed on December 16 just before mile marker 245 east of Lebanon. The driver of the truck, 55-year-old Roy Golden, was charged with DUI and reckless endangerment.
Online: Tennessee Department of Transportation
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