Published: April 15, 2008 06:29 am         

Truck filled with coal crashes into minivan

A ditch was filled with more than 17 tons of coal and a string of traffic lights was yanked down after a coal truck struck a minivan Thursday.

Around 9:45 a.m., Billy Wilson, 30, was driving a J.R. Edwards Trucking Company coal truck westbound on Hal Rogers Parkway at the same time that Linda Madden was getting ready to turn left onto KY 30 from the parkway’s eastbound lane.

What happened next is unclear, but “someone ran a light,” London Police Officer Nick Jones said. “

It’s still under investigation. She said she had a green light, he said he had a green light.”

Wilson, who was reportedly driving fast, struck the minivan’s front passenger side, knocked into a traffic light pole and turned into a ditch, spilling the coal.

Sondra Woods, of Greenmount, was almost caught in the collision.

“He was coming at a good speed,” she said. “She followed the concrete truck — and thought the light was green. He got on two wheels to keep from hitting me. The truck rose up, hit the light, and down he went.”

Woods said she wasn’t sure if the light was green for Wilson or not. Either way, she said she was relieved to avoid the accident.

“I’m very lucky today,” she said.

Neither Wilson nor Woods were seriously injured. A 17-year-old male teenager, who was sitting in the minivan’s passenger seat, was also not hurt.

Wilson and Woods were wearing their seat belts. Use of drugs or alcohol are not suspected.

Kentucky Transporta-tion Cabinet workers put up a temporary wooden pole and had the traffic lights working by about 6 p.m. Thursday evening.

ECO-Tech workers handled the clean-up, which involved scooping up the coal and putting it into a container. The coal that could be salvaged was brought to a site in East Bernstadt. The rest was brought to the Laurel Ridge Landfill.

Jones was assisted at the scene by the London Police Department, London Fire Department, Ambulance Inc. of Laurel County, Kentucky Vehicle Enforcement, Kentucky Transportation Cabinet, ECO Tech USA LLC, and Laurel County Division of Public Safety and Emergency Management.