Trucker Named TCA Highway Angel for Helping Injured Woman Laying on Highway
Feb. 15th, 2024
ALEXANDRIA, VA—The Truckload Carriers Association (TCA) has named truck driver Mike Dobis, from Pine Bluff, AR, a TCA Highway Angel for stopping to help an injured woman on the shoulder of a highway. Dobis drives for ABF Freight out of Fort Smith, AR.
It’s an incredible story: On February 14, 2024, around 12:50 p.m., Dobis was traveling westbound on I-40 just before exit 25 near Memphis, TN. He noticed an accident ahead and began to move forward slowly.
“I realized somebody was laying in the road,” he said. “These people just drove through and I’m like, please tell me they didn’t hit her.”
Dobis slowed down to stop and got the traffic behind him to stop and then he checked on the injured woman who was lying in the road .
“She was breathing but in pretty bad shape—blood everywhere,” the former Marine said.
Dobis, who has been driving a truck since 1981, called 911 and talked to both the police and the woman while getting a jacket out of her car. He placed it over the woman to help her get warm, keeping her on the ground and immobile because she complained of back pain. He said there were four cars and a semi truck involved in the accident, and all the cars appeared to be immobilized. He suspects the injured woman was ejected out of the passenger window of the car. The driver was nowhere to be found at the site. Dobis stayed with the injured woman until police arrived and dismissed him.
“All I could do was hold her hand and try to comfort her,” he said.
Since the TCA Highway Angels program’s inception in August 1997, nearly 1,400 professional truck drivers have been recognized as Highway Angels for exemplary kindness, courtesy, and courage displayed while on the job. Thanks to the program’s presenting sponsor, EpicVue, and supporting sponsors, DriverFacts and Northland Insurance, TCA is able to showcase outstanding drivers like Mr. Dobis.
The TCA Highway Angels website can be accessed at https://www.truckload.org/highway-angel/.