Trucker Named TCA Highway Angel for Rescuing Crash Victim After Her Car Flipped

09/28/2023
Alexandria, Virginia

ALEXANDRIA, VA—The Truckload Carriers Association (TCA) has named truck driver Tom Morris, from Gladwin, MI, a TCA Highway Angel for coming to the aid of an accident victim when her car flipped in the air and crashed into some power lines. Morris drives for Melton Truck Lines out of Tulsa, OK.

It’s an incredible story: Over Labor Day weekend in early September, 2023, Morris was driving on I-10 in Lamont, FL, at dusk and decided to stop and grab a snack. As the 15+ year truck driver was in the truckstop store, he happened to look out the window and see a car airborne and flipping.

“I heard something and as I’m looking up, I literally see the entire bottom of the car,” Morris said. “It was actually flipping sideways, end to end.”

He immediately yelled to those in the store to call 911 and then ran out to the accident scene. The car ended up in a ditch right in front of the store, covered in electrical wires. The woman involved in the crash was initially unconscious and when she woke up and was moaning, Morris and other customers did their best to calm her down. A volunteer firefighter for over a decade, he stayed by the woman’s side until the paramedics arrived.

“Being in the fire department I always felt that if I can go in there to help somebody else…that’s the way I’ve always been,” he said. “If I can help somebody, I always try to help somebody—it doesn’t matter what the situation.”

Since the TCA Highway Angels program’s inception in August 1997, nearly 1,300 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 sponsor, DriverFacts, TCA is able to showcase outstanding drivers like Mr. Morris.