PROFESSIONAL TRUCK DRIVER HELPS MOTORISTS AFTER VEHICLE WAS STRUCK BY DEER

11/19/2010
Alexandria, Virginia

The Truckload Carriers Association (TCA) has named Bill Whitehead, a professional truck driver with FirstFleet, Inc., of Murfreesboro, Tennessee, as a Highway Angel for helping motorists whose car had been struck by a deer.

At approx. 5:30 p.m. on October 7, 2010, Whitehead was about to make a delivery and was driving east on Highway 402 in Georgia when he saw a car collide with a deer. The car, which had been in the right lane, suddenly swerved to the left and came to a stop in the median. Two women and two girls were inside.

Seeing flames underneath the vehicle, Whitehead made sure the stunned women got out of their car. He then obtained an extinguisher from his truck and began working on the flames. When some other motorists stopped to help, he returned to the truck to retrieve a second, larger fire extinguisher. With the help of the other motorists, by the time the police arrived, he had mostly extinguished the flames and pushed the car back over to the right shoulder of the road.

“I have a daughter who is a single mother, and I hope someone would help her out if she ever needed it,” said Whitehead, who has been driving for nearly 30 years.

Since the program’s inception in August 1997, hundreds of drivers have been recognized as Highway Angels for the exemplary kindness, courtesy, and courage they have displayed while on the job.