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Truck Tosses Its Cookies on Interstate Highway near Chicago
May 19, 2008 6:04 PM
by
Anne Szustek
A trailer transporting 14 tons of Oreo Double Stuf brand cookies tipped over I-80 near Morris, Ill., flinging the cookies in their cellophane wrappers over the roadway and median.
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The driver of the truck fell asleep at the wheel, according to Ill. State Police Master Sgt. Brian Mahoney. He ran into the highway median 3:40 am CDT Monday when the trailer turned over and dumped its cargo.
Both lanes of traffic were closed until 6 a.m. while state authorities picked up the cookies. Much of the mess had been moved off to the side by Monday morning rush hour, but footage from Chicago CBS affiliate WBBM later Monday morning shows traffic moving freely near the accident site—albeit with the highway and passenger tires getting a thin crust of Oreo crumbs.
WBBM traffic reporter Kris Habermehl said when checking out the site from his helicopter, “You don’t want to lose your cookies this early in the morning—wait, that didn’t sound right."
This is not the first time this year that jackknifed trucks have spilled interesting cargo pleasing to news team video cameras.
St. John’s County in Florida had to shut down a portion of I-95 after a semi-trailer tipped over and dumped Jell-O snacks on the roadway.
In mid-March, a trailer transporting bees tipped in suburban Sacramento, releasing 8 million of the stinging insects over a swath of California State Route 99. Calif. State Highway officer Michael Bradley had to end his phone call abruptly while he “went at it with a bee in the car.” In that crash, some $75,000 to $80,000 of a key agricultural commodity was lost in a region populated by orchards.
Mahoney said no charges have been filed against the sleepy Oreo driver, leaving Illinois state troopers to clean up the driver’s “just desserts.”
Both lanes of traffic were closed until 6 a.m. while state authorities picked up the cookies. Much of the mess had been moved off to the side by Monday morning rush hour, but footage from Chicago CBS affiliate WBBM later Monday morning shows traffic moving freely near the accident site—albeit with the highway and passenger tires getting a thin crust of Oreo crumbs.
WBBM traffic reporter Kris Habermehl said when checking out the site from his helicopter, “You don’t want to lose your cookies this early in the morning—wait, that didn’t sound right."
This is not the first time this year that jackknifed trucks have spilled interesting cargo pleasing to news team video cameras.
St. John’s County in Florida had to shut down a portion of I-95 after a semi-trailer tipped over and dumped Jell-O snacks on the roadway.
In mid-March, a trailer transporting bees tipped in suburban Sacramento, releasing 8 million of the stinging insects over a swath of California State Route 99. Calif. State Highway officer Michael Bradley had to end his phone call abruptly while he “went at it with a bee in the car.” In that crash, some $75,000 to $80,000 of a key agricultural commodity was lost in a region populated by orchards.
Mahoney said no charges have been filed against the sleepy Oreo driver, leaving Illinois state troopers to clean up the driver’s “just desserts.”
Headline Links: Spilled Oreos become Ill. highway mess
Mahoney told the Chicago Tribune that “The impact ripped the trailer open, spilling its cargo across the eastbound lanes of the highway.”
Source: Chicago Tribune (free registration may be required)
The Associated Press reported at 8 a.m. CDT, about four hours after the accident, that “the crash about 50 miles southwest of Chicago remains under investigation.”
Source: Seattle Post-Intelligencer (AP)
Video: ‘Got Milk? Oreo Truck Crashes on I-80’
Traffic reporter Kris Habermehl took a look from his chopper at the site where 28,000 pounds of Double Stuf Oreos spilled onto the median of I-80. He advised drivers, “You don’t want to lose your cookies this early in the morning—wait, that didn’t sound right.”
Source: Chicago CBS affiliate WBBM
Related Topics: Other amusing spills
On April 24, a semi-trailer overturned and spilled Jell-O snacks over I-95 in St. John’s County, Fla. The interstate was shut down as authorities cleaned up the “slippery mess.” The driver was trapped inside the cab, but was rescued and airlifted for injuries.
Source: Orlando, Fla. ABC affiliate WFTV
A flipped big rig released 8 million bees over a Sacramento highway on March 16. Bee populations are falling steeply, making the insects a pricy commodity, especially in central California, where they are vital in pollinating almond orchards.
Source: findingDulcinea
Truckspills.com claims to be the online home of “odd, strange, interesting, and unbelievable things spilled on the road by trucks.” Among the accidents profiled are a dump of oranges over a highway in southeastern Australia, 2,184 cases of Grolsch Beer spilled on a road in Ontario, and a truck that chucked rotten wieners and other processed meats on I-471 near Cincinnati.
Source: Truckspills.com
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