Terrifying video shows unconscious UPS driver veer off the road, crash into tree due to heat
A UPS driver succumbed to the heat on Friday and drove off a Texas road into a tree, the local union says.
Dramatic video of a UPS driver passing out behind the wheel and veering off the road in McKinney, Texas, on Aug. 16.
A terrifying phone video shot by a driver in Texas shows a UPS truck nearly crashing into oncoming traffic Friday before driving off the road and smashing into a tree near McKinney, Texas. The driver passed out after experiencing heat-related symptoms, according to the local Teamsters union.
“While he was driving, he unfortunately succumbed to those heat-related injuries, and he did pass out behind the wheel,” said David Reeves, the union’s principal officer of Teamsters Local 767, according to KTVT news.
The driver called UPS for assistance, the union said but claims the company asked him to drive himself in. UPS says they are aware of the incident and are conducting an investigation. Union President David Reeves told WFAA the truck did not have AC.
The man was taken to a local hospital and released Saturday. Police say the cause of the accident is still being investigated, but a medical issue likely played a role.
The high temperature in McKinney, Texas, Friday was 102 degrees Fahrenheit, with AccuWeather RealFeel® Temperatures as high as 110.
“It's sad to see these things happen,” Garfield Hooper, a UPS driver and union member, told WFAA, adding that workers worry about extreme temperatures every summer. "Each door open, you're driving 60 miles an hour down the road, that's your only A/C in those trucks.”
UPS has faced recent criticism for not doing more to reduce the temperature of their delivery vehicles as temperatures soar around the world, putting workers at risk. "Despite a promise in the contract reached with the Teamsters union last year, UPS has not yet purchased any new vans with AC," CNN reported in June, adding "Almost none of the nearly 100,000 brown package vans have AC. Temperatures inside the trucks, both the cab and especially the cargo space where drivers need to go to fetch and drop off packages, can regularly get well over 120 degrees, according to the Teamsters union, which represents more than 300,000 UPS employees."
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