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U-Haul saves 2 from runaway truck

A dump truck driver loses control on a curve in Holiday, crashing into a U-Haul and a business. The business owner is upset with the county for not fixing the curve.

By PHIL DAVIS
Published October 5, 2005

HOLIDAY - The thunderous crunch of two trucks colliding got Nancy Gangwer's attention. But it was the horrified shout of her boss that got her moving - just as a 9,000-pound U-Haul truck came crashing through a concrete-block wall a few feet from her chair.

"If he hadn't yelled for me to run, I might be dead," Gangwer said of her boss, Ron Disbrow. "He sounded like Forrest Gump: "Run, Nancy. Run.' "

Disbrow also counted himself lucky to be alive after the 4:55 p.m. Monday crash that demolished the front of his business, Mile Stretch Self Storage at 5425 Mile Stretch Drive. He'd meant to tell Gangwer to move the U-Haul parked in front of his sign.

"I'm glad I didn't," he said.

The U-Haul took the brunt of the impact after a 5-ton dump truck careened out of control on the Grand Boulevard curve onto Mile Stretch. The dump truck skidded off the road, missed a light pole and smashed into a U-Haul parked about 20 feet off the road next to the building. The impact crushed the front of the U-Haul and pushed it through the front of the storage company office, smashing a sign and a pickup truck along the way.

"It turned out to be a lifesaver," said Al Robinson, an employee at the storage facility. "If that truck hadn't been there, the dump truck would have gone right through the building and we'd have had a couple of dead people here."

Only the dump truck driver, 42-year-old Bobby Chambless of Holiday, was hurt in the crash; and his injuries were minor. Everyone else walked away unscathed.

Florida Highway Patrol trooper Larry Coggins said Tuesday that the dump truck's door swung open as it rounded the curve. The driver lost control while closing it. He was cited for careless driving, Coggins said.

The crash destroyed the dump truck, the U-Haul and Gangwer's 2000 Chevrolet pickup. FHP troopers estimated damage to the building at $55,000.

On Tuesday afternoon, surrounded by repairmen and insurance adjusters, Disbrow's relief at his narrow escape turned to anger. He said he is tired of waiting for Pasco County to follow through with its promise to straighten the dangerous curve where Grand Boulevard feeds into the eastern end of Mile Stretch Drive.

"I've had it. I've had it up to my freakin' eyeballs," Disbrow said. "This intersection was supposed to be fixed by Penny for Pasco (taxes). But they've been dragging their feet, giving me every excuse in the book. And here I am almost getting killed."

The intersection is one of 16 major traffic projects the county is planning to do with Penny for Pasco tax income. The county set aside about $1.9-million to turn the curve into a T-intersection and add curbs, gutters and turn lanes.

Disbrow said county officials told him they wouldn't get to the project until next year. "They won't commit to anything," he said.

County engineering officials did not return calls for comment Tuesday.

Mile Stretch has been a troublesome road in recent months. The county installed stops signs at Mile Stretch and Arcadia Road after a series of three deadly crashes in a little more than six months.

The crashes have not been as severe at Mile Stretch and Grand, but locals say the curve where the two roads meet is dangerous. It is difficult for traffic coming around the curve onto Mile Stretch to see traffic coming and going at several businesses. Disbrow tells his customers to make left turns out of his parking lot because of the blind curve.

"We have a hell of a time getting out of here sometimes," agreed Robinson. "Nobody pays attention. It's posted 25 mph on the curve, but people come around at 45 mph."

Phil Davis can be reached in west Pasco at 869-6247 or toll-free at 1-800-333-7505, ext. 6247. His e-mail address is pdavis@sptimes.com

[Last modified October 5, 2005, 01:14:17]