Crime & Safety
Trucker Stops Dead Man's Rig to Limit Tragedy
First driver was unconscious, but second man halts tanker to avoid crash and injuries, police say.
A trucker on Sunday brought a driverless tank truck to a stop, avoiding injury to other motorists on the Pennsylvania Turnpike in Lower Macungie Township, according to police.
The tanker was without a driver because that man was unconscious and later pronounced dead, according to .
The hero was not named in the report, but police said he noticed that something was wrong at 4:30 p.m. and stopped his truck. The tanker was moving very slow, so the fellow trucker was able to catch up with it by foot and stop the tractor-trailer. Police did not say what the tanker hauled and whether it had any contents.
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Cetronia Ambulance Corps responded, but Richard Cecil Cole, 59, of Avondale, Chester County, was found to be unresponsive. He was pronounced dead at the scene by the Lehigh County coroner's office at 5:25 p.m.
Cole died of natural causes, according to Lehigh County Coroner Scott Grim. An autopsy was performed on Monday.