Alabama Goodyear Highway Hero 'Saves One of His Own'

LOUISVILLE, Ky., March 24 -- A Leesburg, Ga., truck driver has rescued plenty of motorists from wrecked or overturned vehicles in his 30-year career.

But when he needed help in a fiery three-truck accident near Atlanta on Aug. 25, it was his rescuer, Douglas Crawford, of Ashford, Ala., who helped save the life of one of his own.

Crawford, a driver for Saia Motor Freight Lines Inc., was named Thursday night as the 23rd Goodyear North America Highway Hero. (Saia is pronounced Sigh Uh.) Leesburg truck driver Herman Langford said Crawford deserved the award for helping him to cheat death. "I've helped others, but they were nothing like my accident. That man saved my life," Langford said.

Traveling southbound on Interstate 85 in Coweta County, Georgia, Crawford said he watched the accident unfold. What he didn't see was a hit-and-run truck driver allegedly rear-end a Roadway truck, causing the driver to lose control and cross the grass median into the northbound lanes.

According to police reports, the Roadway 18-wheeler collided with Langford's Sexton Farms Trucking tractor-trailer. Both tractors exploded into flames. Dodging out-of-control cars trying to avoid the accident, Crawford immediately parked on the highway shoulder and ran across the median.

The cab of the runaway truck had disintegrated in the fire. Knowing that no one could survive long in the flames, he ran to the Sexton Farms tractor- trailer, which was burning in the ditch. He sprayed his extinguisher on the blaze and found Langford conscious but unable to move.

Crawford noticed the back wall of the sleeper unit was destroyed, so he was able to walk into the tractor where Langford was covered in diesel fuel. Realizing that time was running out, Crawford told Langford to wrap his arms around his neck.

Grabbing Langford's shoulders, Crawford pulled him from the burning truck to a safe area in the ditch. Moments later, the tractor exploded. A nurse, who had stopped at the accident, administered first aid until paramedics arrived. Langford was airlifted to the hospital.

Crawford said he still keeps in contact with Langford, who is recovering from multiple injuries. The hit-and-run driver called police when he reached his destination and admitted his role in the accident. He was later arrested.

Crawford accepted the award, a $10,000 U.S. Savings Bond and a specially designed Goodyear Highway Hero ring during the Mid America Trucking Show here.

"Too often, we only hear criticism about trucks and drivers, but that's not our view of the trucking industry. We know that most drivers are hardworking, safe and courteous. And in the cases of Doug Crawford and the three other Highway Hero finalists, these drivers stopped to help others without regard for their own lives," said Peter Christoffersen, general manager of marketing for Goodyear commercial tire systems.

"In our eyes, they're all heroes," Christoffersen added.

Founded by Goodyear in 1983, the Highway Hero program recognizes professional truck drivers and the often unnoticed, life-saving rescues and roadside assistance they provide as their jobs take them across North America.

Crawford was selected along with three other truck drivers as finalists for the 2005 award. Other finalists included:

   - Danny Wallen, of Conover, Ohio, driver for ABF Freight System Inc. -
     Wallen saved a Tennessee couple on Interstate 65 in Nashville on Sept.
     9, when their stalled car was struck by a sport-utility vehicle and
     caught fire.  He and two others, however, were unable to save the
     couple's 17-year-old daughter, who was trapped in the backseat of the
     burning car.

   - Robert A. Starr, of North Troy, Vt., driver for Starr's
     Transportation - Starr saved a Quebec woman when a roadway culvert
     collapsed near Trois Rivieres in Quebec on Sept. 14.  The women's car
     and Starr's truck caught fire as they hit the caving pavement.

   - Michael Knott, of Casselberry, Fla., driver for FedEx Ground - Knott
     saved a woman and her baby daughter from oncoming traffic as they lay
     on the Florida Turnpike in Osceola County on Oct. 13.  The woman was
     carrying her baby after her car stalled, and she was struck by another
     car.

For more on Goodyear's Highway Hero program and to nominate a truck driver for the 2006 award, go to www.goodyear.com/truck/whatsnew/heroes.html.