An out-of-control pickup truck ran off State Route 32 and smashed into a camper Monday afternoon in Jackson County, but the driver suffered only minor injuries and there was nobody inside the camper at the time.
According to the Jackson Post of the Ohio State Highway Patrol, the unusual crash occurred at 12:34 p.m., just off State Route 32 at the Lazy Dog Camp Resort between Wellston and Jackson.
The Patrol reports that 42-year-old John Rafferty of Wellston was driving his 2004 GMC pickup truck eastbound on State Route 32 when he reportedly lost consciousness at about the Rice Road intersection.
Rafferty's vehicle remained on the road until reaching the McGiffens Road intersection about a half-mile away when it crossed the median and the westbound lanes, ran off the road and struck a barbed-wire fence. It went through that barrier and over a steep embankment and kept going until it plowed into the side of a parked Trail-Lite camper owned by Sherry Whisler of Heath, Ohio, who was not there at the time. The camper was considered to be a total loss. The Patrol stated the truck traveled 289 feet off the road before striking the camper.
The impact caved in the side of the camper and caused considerable damage inside. Rafferty reportedly regained consciousness with the impact. He suffered "non-incapacitating" injuries and was taken by a SEOEMS ambulance to Holzer Medical Center-Jackson hospital.
The Patrol cited Rafferty with Failure To Maintain Reasonable Control.
