Truck Loses Brakes On Mt Pleasant

A large box truck, which had lost its brakes while traveling down a long, steep hill in Hawleyville March 16, collided with an auto which was stopped for a traffic signal, but there were no injuries in the crash, according to police.

Police said motorist Hazel L. Taylor, 54, of Bethel, who was driving a 1995 Dodge Intrepid westbound on Mt Pleasant Road, was stopped at a red traffic signal at the base of the hill where Mt Pleasant Road meets Hawleyville Road.

Motorist Moreira Cesar, 26, of Newark, N.J., who was driving a large box truck westbound on Mt Pleasant Road, started to apply the truck’s brakes while going downhill while approaching the intersection, but the brakes failed, police said.

To avoid striking the rear end of the Dodge, Cesar decided to drive to the left of the auto, police said.

But as Cesar was steering to the left to avoid hitting the auto, a tractor-trailer truck was making a left turn from Hawleyville Road and climbing up Mt Pleasant Road toward the box truck, police said.

Cesar then drove the box truck between the stopped Dodge and the approaching tractor-trailer truck and applied the box truck’s emergency brake, police said  

The right front tire of the box truck struck the driver’s door of the Dodge.

Police issued Cesar a written warning for failure to drive to the right.