Jackknifed Truck Blocks Busy Sandy Hook Intersection

By Andrew Gorosko

About 10:30 am March 16, a trucker who was driving a tractor-trailer truck in Sandy Hook got his full-size rig stuck in the busy intersection of Route 34 and Toddy Hill Road, snarling traffic in the area until a heavy wrecker crew freed the trapped vehicle.

Police had no details on the incident.

 The unidentified driver of the tractor-trailer truck, which is operated by Warren Trucking Company, Inc, of Martinsville, Va., apparently was attempting to make a sharp right turn from Toddy Hill Road onto Route 34, when the two vertical trailer stands positioned beneath the 53-foot-long trailer became wedged in place on Route 34, immobilizing the vehicle. Those stands are normally used to stabilize the trailer when it is disconnected from its tractor.

The road geometry in that area is severe, with Route 34 rising very sharply from its intersection with Toddy Hill Road, creating a limited clearance below vehicles.

When the trailer stands became pinned on the pavement, it caused the rear wheels of the trailer to lift off the ground, preventing the vehicle from rolling. The friction between the trailer stands and the pavement created pronounced score marks on the asphalt.

The stuck truck prevented through-traffic from traveling on Route 34 in that area. However, there was sufficient clearance at the intersection to allow alternating one-way traffic to flow between Toddy Hill Road and Route 34 west of the stuck truck.

Police called in a heavy wrecker crew, which eventually was able to free the stuck truck, reopening the major intersection to traffic.