Dead Gator In Road Causes Tanker To Flip


Driver Tries To Avoid Hitting Carcass

BROWARD COUNTY, Fla. -- A tanker carrying 9,200 gallons of liquid propane overturned Friday morning after the driver swerved to avoid hitting a dead alligator in the middle of the highway, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.

It happened at about 6 a.m. in the southbound lanes of U.S. Highway 27, just south of the Palm Beach County line.

Steven Johnson, 43, of Riverview, Fla., noticed an animal on the road and veered to the right to avoid hitting it, FHP Trooper John Baker said.

"As he tried to counter steer, that's when the tanker on the back of the truck continued onto the shoulder and then overturned," Baker said.

According to the FHP, the animal was a 10-foot, 250- to 400-pound gator carcass that had likely been struck and killed by another vehicle.

A fellow trucker stopped and helped pull Johnson out of the cab through the windshield. He was not seriously injured.

No propane leaked from the tanker, but southbound U.S. Highway 27 remained closed throughout the morning while Propane Transport International, the company that owns the tanker, transferred the propane to another tanker.

Dead Gator In Road Causes Tanker To Flip - Miami News Story - WPLG Miami

I brake for Gators..

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"Destiny must be shaped and not left to mere chance."..Spencer Collins ..

I drive that road almost every week at least once. We joke and call the shreds or sometimes long pieces of broken tire treads you see on highways "gators". I have seen quite a few gators hit by vehicles. The other uncommon thing you see smeared on south Florida roads is bright green smears that used to be Iguanas.

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"Most people can't think, most of the remainder won't think, the small fraction who do think mostly can't do it very well. The extremely tiny fraction who think regularly, accurately, creatively and without self delusion---In the long run these are the only people that count."Robert Heinlein