Idaho truck driver receives safety award in Missoula hospital following accident

the Missoulian ^ | 2/5/04 | MICK HOLIEN

[mylife]

Painful ceremony

By MICK HOLIEN of the Missoulian

Idaho truck driver receives safety award in Missoula hospital following accident

A semi-trailer driver who came to Missoula to receive a million-mile safe driving award ended up being honored while in his hospital bed after an accident Saturday on Interstate 90.

Raymond Mattes, 53, of Post Falls, Idaho, received his award at St. Patrick Hospital where he was being treated for crushed vertebrae suffered in the wreck east of Frenchtown.

The accident wasn't Mattes' fault, however. In fact, his quick actions may have saved the lives of the people in the other vehicle.

Mattes was hauling frozen french fries from Othello, Wash., to Columbus, Ohio, and was scheduled to stop at the Jim Palmer Trucking yard at the Wye, a few miles west, when the driver of an eastbound Toyota 4-Runner lost control, came across the median and rolled, striking his 2003 Peterbilt semi-trailer.

"He lost it on the ice, and he started flipping like a hydraulic joint," Mattes said in an interview Wednesday, a couple of hours before his release from the hospital.

Driving about 50 mph on the slick roads, Mattes said he knew he couldn't allow his 18 wheeler to hit the roof of the sliding SUV.

"I thought, if I hit the roof, I'm going to kill everybody," he said.

So he drove the rig off the road, through a borrow pit and barbed wire fence before slamming into an embankment supporting the railroad tracks.

When Mattes tried to get out of the rig, he couldn't move, so he decided to try to drive the rig out of the predicament.

"I thought maybe I could back out," he laughed Wednesday. "That's what shock does for you."

Help soon arrived and Mattes was stabilized until he could be transported to St. Pat's for treatment.

"Just terrible," Mattes said of his back injury. "It hurts a lot."

The driver of the 4-Runner, Michael David Wachtel, 22, a University of Montana student from Oshkosh, Wis., was trapped in his vehicle for more than an hour after it came to rest upside-down in the eastbound lane, said Capt. Mike Frellick of the Montana Highway Patrol.

Wachtel remains hospitalized with serious injuries.

Two other UM students also were injured. Ahmed Saed Emmad, 21, is in St. Pat's intensive care unit in critical condition, while Thomas Patrick Harrigan, 19, has been released.

Fortunately, everyone involved in the wreck was wearing a seat belt, said Frellick.

The wreck was caused by Wachtel driving too fast for slushy conditions, which happens all too often this time of year, Frellick said.

This marks the second time in an 18-year driving career Mattes has been honored for driving a million miles without an accident.

"It's a rare occasion that you can drive a million miles and not have any fender-bender of any nature when you're driving a 72-foot, 80,000-pound truck down the road," said Dave Zohner, Palmer's safety director. "That's an outstanding feat. Most of us don't drive a million miles in our lifetime in our personal vehicle."

[mylife]

Man that sucks

[cavtrooper21]

Raymond Mattes - brain user

VS

Michael Wachtel - brainless loser (smart-a$$ college boy driving daddy-bought SUV) -at least the little punks were wearing seatbelts.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

One of my cousins and his wife are a husband and wife team. They drive 5500 miles a week and I don't know how they do it.

[petuniasevan]

Ping!

[mylife]

Ray Mattes, St Patricks Hospital

[jocon307]

"Raymond Mattes - brain user VS Michael Wachtel - brainless loser"

You got a good bumper-sticker in there somewhere!

[cavtrooper21]

Bush - Brain user. VS
Kerry - Spineless traitor
Born loser
Brainless liberal

[cavtrooper21]

There is one tough man.

[Pete-R-Bilt]

P-7 thanks for the ping,

I heard this comming home this week...

Don't ya just love irony?!

[NormsRevenge]

Kudos to the RayMan..

Get well quick and see ya back on the road real soon.

[B4Ranch]

Would you run that gold rig of yours off the road to keep a braindead idiot alive?

[B4Ranch]

1000 miles a day is good for a marriage, especially when you're together. That way she gets to pull her 500 miles just like you did.

[ChefKeith]

Just Damn!

Truckers keep this Country going in more ways than one.

You Folks STAY SAFE out there.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

You couldn't get me within 10 miles of one of those trucks.

[B4Ranch]

It's a tough job, but thankfully we have some who are strong enough to haul the food and supplies for America.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

They buy a new Western Star every two-three years figuring in at least one major overhaul.

[B4Ranch]

Talk to Pete-R-Bilt about costs for that stuff. He's up to date.