Driver issued over $15K in traffic citations after vehicle hits bridge, traffic signal in Bradford County

BY JAMES LOEWENSTEIN (STAFF WRITER)
Published: February 9, 2010

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The driver of an oversize vehicle has been issued more than $15,000 in traffic citations after his vehicle struck a bridge and traffic signal Sunday in Bradford County, state police said Monday.

The driver, Arthur H. Dawes, 64, of Blossburg, is accused of driving an oversize load Sunday evening that struck utility lines along state Route 409 in southeastern Bradford County, police said.

The vehicle then traveled west on U.S. Route 6 and struck a traffic signal in Wysox without stopping, according to a complaint filed with the state police.

The vehicle continued to travel west on Route 6 and struck the bridge that carries U.S. Route 220 over Route 6 in North Towanda Township, which sheared off part of the top of the trailer, police said. Dawes failed to stop after the collision and proceeded west on Route 6 until the vehicle was stopped by state police on state Route 4013 in Burlington Borough, police said.

State police said they determined that the oversize load was being transported without a permit.

There were also several equipment violations, including two front tires that were so worn the steel belts were showing though, state police said.

Dawes could not produce documentation that he was authorized to operate on a 10-ton posted highway, and the vehicle, which weighed 53,381 pounds, was over the 10-ton posted weight restriction, police said.

There was no structural damage to the bridge that resulted from the accident, said Bob Thorne, who is the state Department of Transportation's county manager for Bradford County.

Warren Knapp, an assistant maintenance manager for PennDOT in Bradford County, who in charge of the PennDOT's local bridge maintenance crew, examined the bridge Sunday night, Thorne said.

"Other than paint scraped off the bottom of the bridge, there was no other damage to the bridge that we could see last night," he said.

Thorne said he believed it may have only been a 1-inch diameter piece of railing on the vehicle that struck the bridge.

Dawes was arraigned Sunday night in District Court in Wysox, police said.

Traffic citations are also pending against Todd Berguson Trucking of Arnot, Pa., for permitting the violations, police said.

After being arraigned, Dawes was sent to the Bradford County jail in lieu of $10,000 bail, police said.

James Loewenstein can be reached at (570) 265-1633; or e-mail: jloewenstein@thedailyreview.com.

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this is in response to liberty, i think there were some major problems with what happened and there is enough fault to go around for both the driver and the trucking company. but you stated that safety should not be compromised for money, i see your from liberty and how soon we forget what happens in our own back yard when some years ago a trucking company based out of liberty was caught hauling landfill refuse going one way and with only the sweep of the trailer was hauling food products going the opposite direction and when they were caught faced thousands and thousands of dollars in fines and it was the same thing then haul for a cheaper rate and back haul the garbage although i won't mention the trucking company . they still run up and down our roads in there black tractor and black dump trailers, so what i am telling you is it can happen to your nieghbors and lets not forget they are charged they are not convicted yet . and i believe from your comments you must be very sore about something that has happened in the past and you need to move on. i just hope the dot keeps a closer eye on these kind of actions so we can stop this before it happens again

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wellsboro, 02/13/10 2:20

Luv Canal was part of Hooker Chemical...my husband use to work for them for 32 years. You DON'T want history to repeat itself!

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glows in the dark, 02/13/10 10:26

I myself carry a CDL, but do not drive regularly. I can tell you that yes the permits can be a a pain to get but not impossible. I have no idea what this company does for a living, but I have hear for years of truck drivers who would haul older house trailers early on Sunday mornings just so they could get away with it. Can you imagine that? How many of those trailers actually had tires that were road worthy not to mention lights that the driver even bothered to care that worked, but these drivers waited till 4:30 or 5:00 AM when all the cops were off of DUI duty and were done handling issues of this nature. So this kind of thing has gone on for years. I am sorry, but it does seem that a lot of "newer" companies in the area are doing this. Come of these companies might not be with the gas companies, but I know of several that were local boys and have always operated on just the edge of the law on a lot of things. Perhaps it might be where they dump waste, perhaps it might be just a lot of things that other companies with better reputations would never do because they wouldn't want to besmirch their good name. Fines and taxes are there for a reason, and it is usually to protect the public. Does anyone remember a place called Luv Canal? Well just imagine if the gas company wasn't watched over by DEP? Do you think that DEP doesn't cost the taxpayers any money. Why should the average taxpayer for DEP when not everyone is benefitting, and eventually there will be damage, or spillage, or some kind of problem due to natural gas drilling? If your kids were suddenly sick because of it are you just going to be happy about it?

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Not always gas people, 02/13/10 7:09

Corious; I'm sure the driver knew what he hit, but he also knew he was operating without permit or proper license. He had to keep going and hope to get away with it.

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roadhog, 02/11/10 10:31

I'm not a truck driver, so if there's someone out there that is, exactly how likely is it that he hit all those objects and didn't notice?

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Curious, 02/10/10 8:46

The permits for moving equipment do not cost that much. The state just makes it hard to get the permits.The system is confusing. If they would attempt to fix the issue it would put a huge dent in the revenue base. I agree with fining companies that do not follow the rules. Lets fix the problem where the breakdown occurs, at the permitting level. Fining in excess is not going to fix anything.From reading the comments, most of you do not know what you are talking about and need to learn how the system works.

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notagasissue, 02/09/10 8:10

I sure hope they got the load moved cheap enough.How about hiring a Qualified carrier the next time,everyone wants the cheapest guy to do the work dont want to pay to get the job done right. Safety should come way before price way to go berguson trucking!

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Liberty, 02/09/10 6:23

you people just ashame me. How can you talk so badly about someone with out even knowing ALL the facts..Don't speak unless you know..

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Disgusted, 02/09/10 5:28

To SENIOR and NEWYEAR: No where in this article does it say the driver or the load are involved with the gas industry. Get your FACTS straight before you start accusations. It just goes to show how many NON-GAS companies are using the roads illegally and probably have been for many years.

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just a reader, 02/09/10 3:09

I am so glad to see that the local law enforcement is working on making these companies pay for all the illegal activity that they are doing. Next, we need to make sure they catch the drivers that are running double books so they can run 16 hours a day. And it's not always the driver's fault - the gas companies are demanding it from their drivers, and refusing to hire them if they won't do it.

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Suzie, 02/09/10 2:46

Imagine that, didn't get caught until he got into Burlington. And another point, just imagine all the overweight trucks that traveled
our roads long before the gas industry came here. He was just one of
the unfortunate ones. And our rural "dirt" roads got in the condition
they are from those trucks as has our major highways for many years now.

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who to blame, 02/09/10 1:57

Reason 200 dot is doing an awesome job during the day. But they need to police the roads 24/7. That light hung 8 feet off the road after it was hit. And worst thing out of this is a ton of people had to miss superbowl with their friends because they had to be out directing traffic.

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Grrrr, 02/09/10 1:52

I don't see where it states what he was hauling and what industry he was exactly hauling for.He violated the law and should be punished. everyone is quick to blame the gas industry for roads that have been going down the crapper for a long time! Way before the gas industry came a knocking!

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John Spencer, 02/09/10 11:39

How sad, and obviously when this Mr. Dawes received his commercial drivers license he was taught better than this so it isn't just his companies fault. What are these people thinking?

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Amazed, 02/09/10 8:31

Tax, tax, tax this gas industry-I am on a fixed income, they (gas industry) are destroying our Pennsylvania roads. If they can get legal permit why are they not--Greed, greed, greed at my and other seniors expense. Their driving should be looked at, they are now hitting bridges!!!!

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Senior, 02/09/10 8:03

So they know that he hit the traffic light but didn't clean up the shards? Most of what was left of the light was still laying tossed in the grass next to the light yesterday morning.

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Athens, 02/09/10 7:25

Here we go again, the gas industry has now allowed their drivers to not only drive overweight vehicle without the required permits but the load was driven on a Sunday night when none of these vehicle are legal to move on the roadway. The article says the front tires were bald, what if the tires blewout and seriously hurt someone, they also hit the bridge--come on people wake up before someone is seriouly hurt by one of these truck working for the gas industry, no bonding or permit will bring these people into compliance. In finishing I say tax the industry and law enforcement keep up the good work keeping me and my family safe by stopping these illegal actions by these trucks working for the gas industry.

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newyear, 02/09/10 6:38

I am glad to see the state police trying to keep control over the situation of all of these oversize loads traveling without permits. It is hard enough to go anywhere as it is with all the legal trucks, we don't need the illegal ones destroying our bridges and traffic signals.

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Keep a watchful eye, 02/09/10 4:36

Driver issued over $15K in traffic citations after vehicle hits bridge, traffic signal in Bradford County

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