Be Careful On That Ice

[scratch]

We unfortunately had a fatality yesterday. A Feeder Driver in Rome, GA hit some ice and went off the road. My condolences to his family and friends.

http://www.romenews-tribune.com/vie...reported-on-Ga--53?instance=home_Most_popular

 

[brownIEman]

Makes one just heartsick. Condolences to his family, I hope they can find strength to get through the coming weeks and beyond.

 

[UPSBluRdg03]

Very sad. Condolences go to friends, family and fellow UPSers.

 

[over9five]

R.I.P. driver

 

[Anonymous 10]

I've been driving on an iceberg all week it's definitely dangerous. God bless this person and there family my heart goes out to them.

 

[djkre8r]

Thank you, Scratch. It was a hard day for all at our center. Bear was a wonderful person. Please keep his family in your prayers.

 

[grgrcr88]

R I P Bear!! Such a hard thing to deal with for a family and friends, especially this time of year. Condolences to all that knew him!!

 

[dilligaf]

My condolences and prayers to all.

 

[tonyexpress]

Thoughts and prayers go out to this feeder driver, his family and friends.

 

[satellitedriver]

May perpetual light shine upon him.

 

[bigbrownhen]

Thoughts and prayers to his loved ones and all who knew him. We had some of the freezing precipitation hit here to the east, several accidents in the area. Black ice shut down several highways.

 

[Old International]

My prayers go out to all of his loved ones.

I noted his age. Are they sure it was weather related, and not medical? From the write up, it sounds like the set went quite a ways before the plunge over the edge.

 

[scratch]

I noted his age too, I don't know if that had anything to do with it. We have had a good hard freeze for a few days before, and just a little bit of precipitation that day. It froze into black ice and caught everybody by surprise, lots of accidents that evening. I-20 West looked like a parking lot on my drive home that night, everywhere above there was messed up. I'm not familiar with the exact spot of this accident, but the part of Hwy 53 I have driven on is a two lane road that winds through the North Georgia mountains.

 

[stevetheupsguy]

RIP! It can be a hard ordeal for those that suffer the loss of a loved one at this time of year. May God minister to the needs and help all of those that suffer grief at the passing of Bear.

*Note to all. Please remember, and remind your loved ones, to drive carefully. Expect the unexpected, so we can all get home safely, this Christmas season.

 

[djkre8r]

I can assure you it wasn't Bear's age that had anything to do with his accident. I "personally" crossed the same bridge at 5pm that evening in a loaded rental truck and slid a bit on the ice. I called and reported it to 911 (because there was a guy with a wrecked car on the side of the road) and our center. I came back across 1 hour later and there was about 10-15 cars that were wrecked. Bear's accident was around 10:30pm and he was driving an empty feeder (1 trailer). There were so many accidents that evening that 911 issued a statement to the radio stations for people to ONLY call in and report an accident if there were injuries. Since I was in a rental, I was able to hear the reports.

I would like to thank the guys from the other centers that came to the funeral home. We were told in our PCM this morning that his wife and family was real appreciative of everyone showing up as a UPS family (in browns). I have never seen so many people come out to pay respect to someone. He will be missed by WAY MORE people than I could ever imagine.

 

[brett636]

I heard about this as I was leaving Friday morning. My condolences to his family.

 

[diesel96]

Upon reading the comments to this sad story, "Bear" was beloved by many that he touched. He will be missed. My condolences to those fortunate enough to have known him personally, and to his family as well.....RIP

 

[over9five]

They have pictures of Bears rig posted at Dispatch. Anyone here who was driving to WORMA two Sundays ago knows how fast the roads can turn to ice. It's that time of year, be extra careful.

 

[djkre8r]

over9five - see message I sent you please.

 

[over9five]

Got it, reply sent.