Rig Carrying Acid Cargo Tears Down Signal in LG

La Grange Police ticketed a truck driver after his rig tore town the traffic signal at Jefferson and Travis St. last Wednesday, March 1.

The crash happened around 5:50 p.m. La Grange Police Chief David Gilbreath said a blue 2006 Kenworth truck-tractor driven by 47-year-old Valentin Gonzales of San Juan was heading north on Jefferson St. (US 77). The truck was pulling a tanker trailer filled with hydrochloric acid.

Gilbreath said the driver attempted to turn east on Travis St., but he turned too sharply to the right. The tandem wheels of the trailer hit the light pole, which ripped the wiring away from the traffic signals. Gilbreath said the rig was traveling so fast when it hit the pole that force that it bent the steel rims and shifted the tandem axle under the trailer. None of the acid leaked from the trailer, he said.

The trailer was owned by Energy Services Group of Fort Worth. Gilbreath said another 18-wheeler arrived to unload the acid from the damaged trailer.

“It knocked the traffic lights out for a couple of hours until TxDOT could come and fix them,” Gilbreath said.

La Grange Police Officer Jeff Archerd investigated the accident. He ticketed Gonzales for making an improper right turn. C&M Towing and Recovery of Giddings towed the trailer away from the scene. The Kenworth trucktractor was not damaged.