Somerset Food Service trucker killed on I-75

By SUSAN WHEELDON, CJ Staff Writer
Commonwealth Journal

May 13, 2008 08:17 am

— A Somerset man was treated for injuries sustained following an accident in which the driver of a Somerset Food Service tractor-trailer he was with was killed.
According to WLEX news, Joshua Tarter, 30, Somerset, was riding with Tommy Kelley, 48, London, who was killed in an early morning accident on I-75 Monday morning around the 68 mile marker near Mount Vernon.
According to Kentucky State Police Public Affairs Officer Trooper Don Trosper, the accident occurred at 12:46 a.m. when a Chevrolet passenger car was traveling southbound on I-75 and made contact with a Chevrolet van. At that time, the passenger car came to a controlled stop on the southbound shoulder of the roadway, while the van crossed the median and came to an uncontrolled stop in the right northbound lane. No one was injured in those two vehicles.
Meanwhile, a second traffic crash occurred as the northbound traffic was avoiding the Chevrolet van. This crash involved the Somerset Food Service tractor-trailer and a Ford pickup truck. The tractor-trailer struck the pickup in the rear, overturned, and slid into a concrete bridge pillar.
Kelley, who was driving the semi, was fatally injured in the collision and was pronounced dead at the scene by the Rockcastle County Coroner’s Office. Tarter, who was the passenger in the semi, and the driver of the pickup truck were transported to a local hospital for treatment of unknown injuries.
Kentucky State Police had not released the names of the others involved in the accident at press time.
Trosper said apparently Tarter and the driver of the pickup were treated and released from the hospital.
He said KSP Traffic Crash Reconstructionist Trooper Greg Hill and KSP Traffic Crash Reconstructionist Detective Mike Bowling are continuing the investigation. Assisting at the scene were Trooper Fred Pennington, the Rockcastle County Coroner’s Office, Rockcastle County Sheriff’s Office, Rockcastle County EMS, Kentucky Vehicle Enforcement, and the Kentucky State Highway Department.