A diesel truck driver who lost control after reaching for a fallen pack of cigarettes has been charged in connection to the crash and fire in Barrow County, officials said.
The crash happened about 9 a.m. Monday when Royce Olivet, 50, of Dacula, slammed into a guardrail on Highway 11 at Tanners Bridge Road, Georgia State Patrol Trooper Robert Clark told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Diesel fuel leaked from the truck and caught fire, destroying the truck, troopers said.
Doris McCranie told Channel 2 Action News that Olivet was sitting on the back of a truck after she heard the crash.
“I was in the house and I heard it go boom, boom!” she said.
Surprisingly, no one was hurt in the wreck, but the Environmental Protection Agency was called due to the risk of fuel entering the creek, Channel 2 reported.
Department of Transportation officials had to check the structure of the bridge to make sure it remained safe for people to cross.
Olivet was given citations to appear in court on charges of distracted driving and failure to maintain lane.
He was not arrested.
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