Trucker doesn’t notice trailer is too tall until highway sign rips it off, OK cops say

A truck driver caused a truly unique traffic jam when the trailer he was hauling hit an overhead highway sign and got stuck, Oklahoma officials say.

It happened along a stretch of U.S. Interstate 35 in Ardmore, the Oklahoma Highway Patrol said in an Aug. 27 news release.

According to troopers, the driver “was raising his trailer” while traveling on the highway. The trailer struck a sign that, under normal circumstances, would be well above and safe from passing traffic.

The sign proved quite durable and instead of being destroyed, it tore the trailer off of the big rig and it was left standing upright in the middle of the highway, a photo shared by OHP shows.

But how did that happen?

“It appears the driver was raising his trailer as he was going down I-35 and did not know it until it hit the sign and ripped it off his truck,” troopers said.

Nobody was hurt, but the accident caused a traffic backup.

“Wrecker company is currently trying to get a crane up to get the trailer down but there will be a slow down in this area for much of the morning,” according to the highway patrol.

Ardmore is a roughly 100-mile drive south from Oklahoma City.

This story was originally published August 27, 2024 at 2:59 PM with the headline "Trucker doesn’t notice trailer is too tall until highway sign rips it off, OK cops say."