runaway trailer on U.S. 98 that killed one man and critically injured another

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Mobile Register (AL)

August 30, 2000

Edition: 01
Section: B
Page: 07

Findings inconclusive in fatal Baldwin accident
Author: LORI MOORE; Staff Reporter

Article Text:

Findings inconclusive in fatal Baldwin accident By LORI MOORE Staff Reporter

MONTROSE - After more than a month of tests and studies, investigators said they cannot identify the exact cause of a July 12 accident involving a runaway trailer on U.S. 98 that killed one man and critically injured another.

Police have found no conclusive reason why an equipment trailer and the tractor it carried broke loose from a truck, crossed the median and struck two cars.

No charges have been filed against the truck's driver, John Bolton, 64, of Daphne, but a grand jury will review the case, possibly in the next few weeks, Sgt. Thomas Garrick, Fairhope's investigator on the accident, said Monday.

The grand jury will convene Sept. 11.

Bolton was driving south on U.S. 98 in Montrose with a trailer carrying a Ford tractor with front-end and back-hoe attachments. The trailer broke loose and crossed the median into north-bound traffic, according to the accident report.

The tractor was secured to the trailer with safety chains which broke when the trailer collided with a Lincoln Mark VIII carrying Dr. James Seay, 71, of Fairhope, Garrick said. Seay's car was split in half on impact.

The tractor then fell off the trailer and crushed the front end of a sport utility vehicle, killing the driver of that vehicle, Richard Constantini, 45, of Fairhope.

Despite tests, Fairhope police and state troopers have not been able to determine why the pin securing the trailer to the truck came off, Garrick said.

"We didn't really find any reason for it to happen," Garrick said. "The pin that holds it (the trailer) for some reason just came out. But we never found it."

Garrick said that he believes the pin was in place when Bolton left Daphne.

"He had driven from Daphne, and I don't see any way you could drive that far without the pin," Garrick said.

According to the final accident report, Bolton drove 3.4 miles before the trailer broke loose. His 1978 Chevy truck was traveling 40 mph when the accident happened, the report states.

Seay, a surgeon who works out of Thomas Hospital in Fairhope, was flown by helicopter to the University of South Alabama Medical Center, where he spent 24 days in surgical intensive care, his wife, Patty Seay, said.

Last Tuesday, he was moved to a new skilled nursing unit at Thomas Hospital where he is undergoing physical rehabilitation, she said.

Patty Seay said she kissed her husband on his way out to the hardware store that day, and told him she would see him in a minute.

"Then our life was destroyed," she said.

Thomas Hospital spokeswoman Diana Brewer listed Seay in good condition on Tuesday.

The doctor has lost between 25 and 30 pounds, prompting his wife to say, "We just want to fatten him up and get him back to work."

Copyright 2000, Mobile Register. All Rights Reserved. Used by NewsBank with Permission.
Record Number: MERLIN_47345