A Maryland man died in a truck accident Monday, April 8, when the garbage truck he was driving failed to clear an underpass in the District of Washington DC.
James Harvey Harris, 71 years old and a resident of Oxon Hill, was traveling northbound on South Capitol Street around 2:00 p.m. when the DC truck accident happened.
According to Metropolitan police, Harris was trying to avoid the busy intersection near Nationals Park. As he attempted to continue on South Capitol Street at the underpass for M Street, his green 1989 Mack roll-off trash truck hit the underpass, which is made of concrete and steel.
The force of the impact pushed Harris through the driver’s side door out onto the road. He was rushed to a local hospital with critical injuries, from which he did not recover.
The truck itself rolled a ways down the road before coming to a stop on its own.
Police are still trying to determine what exactly caused the crash. They do not yet know whether the top of the truck was too high to clear the underpass or if some external circumstance caused the accident. One report suggests that something caused the front of the truck to leave the ground just as Harris was going through the underpass.
The bridge itself sustained only minor damage. It was inspected and allowed to reopen to traffic.
The Maryland truck accident attorneys of Nickelsporn & Lundin express our deepest sympathies to the family and friends of Mr. Harris.