
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: MONDAY, March 27, 1995                   TAG: 9503280028
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: MATT CHITTUM
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

TRUCK WRECK BLOCKS I-81 TRAFFIC

Traffic on northbound Interstate 81 in Montgomery County was held up for nearly six hours Sunday night when a truck loaded with broccoli and asparagus rolled over near the Roanoke County line.

The vegetables were tossed around inside the trailer, but none spilled onto the pavement, according to state Trooper Ted Phipps.

Phipps said the truck, driven by Manjit Dhillon, 48, of Modesto, Calif., was heading north about 5 p.m. when Dhillon apparently turned the wheel a little too quickly, shifting the vegetables and tumbling the truck onto its right side. No other vehicles were involved in the accident.

"I've been working these things for a lot of years, but I've never quite seen a truck do this," Phipps said. "It's unusual for a truck to just roll over on its own."

Traffic was backed up on I-81 for about three miles until the truck was cleared about 11 p.m., Phipps said. At one point, when workers had to block both northbound lanes, the line of cars reached six miles.

Harwinder Dodd, 31, a passenger in the truck, was taken to Lewis-Gale Hospital and treated for abrasions. Dhillon was not injured.

by CNB