Garbage truck overturns Tuesday

Published 3:38 pm Tuesday, November 22, 2011

A truck hauling garbage from Sneads, Fla., to the landfill on U.S. Highway 27 South near Attapulgus overturned Tuesday afternoon, causing minor injuries to its driver.

The accident happened at approximately 1 p.m. at the intersection of East Griffin Avenue and U.S. 27 South, about 12 miles south of Bainbridge.

According to Decatur County sheriff’s deputies, it appeared the City of Sneads garbage truck failed to slow down in the curve leading out onto the highway. The 10-wheel truck  overturned onto its side and slid about 30 yards out into the highway median, said Major Linn Harrell of the Sheriff’s Office.

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The Georgia State Patrol’s Colquitt post is investigating the accident, however, Major Harrell said the driver told emergency responders that the truck’s brakes had failed, making him unable to slow down.

The crash broke the truck’s windshield and spilled a small amount of garbage out into the median. The truck’s driver, who Harrell said was “shaken up,” but not seriously injured, was taken to Memorial Hospital in Bainbridge by ambulance.

Harrell said it is common for trucks from the Florida towns of Sneads and Chattahoochee to use Faceville-Attapulgus Road as a shortcut to get to the landfill.