March 13, 2008
Potato Truck Overturns

Photo by Dave Maxwell Driver was uninjured when truck wrecked near U.S. 93 Hwy. 375 Junction.

By Dave Maxwell, Staff Writer

A Canadian tractor-trailer rig, hauling potatoes to Mexico, tipped over on March 6, at the 45-MPH curve on U.S. 93 about one mile east of the Highway 375 turnoff. The driver, 47-year-old Mohammad Amini, of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, was uninjured.

Amini, hauling a load of potatoes from Kennewick, Washington, was traveling on U.S. 93 for the first time and was unfamiliar with the road. He said, “The curve is very sharp and one of the tires went over the sand and made the truck to lose control and tip over.” The driver said he was knocked out for a few seconds, “but I had my seatbelt on and that saved me.”

Pahranagat Valley Volunteer Ambulance responded to the scene and offered help but Amini refused, saying he was okay.

Freight Trans Ltd. of Mississauga, Ontario, a suburb of Toronto, owns the truck. The load of potatoes did not spill out on to the ground. The truck was removed later that afternoon.