BUTLER TWP. — More than two dozen crashes have been reported in the last four years on the overpass where a semi truck hauling feeder pigs overturned Monday afternoon, according to the Ohio Department of Transportation.
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Kevin McNeil was hauling approximately 2,400 pigs from North Carolina to Illinois for DAS Transit when the truck overturned on the I-75 north ramp to I-70 west and crashed, according to the Ohio State Highway Patrol.
An estimated two or three dozen pigs died.
“There’s been plenty of rollover crashes with semis at this intersection, the 70/75,” said Sgt. Frank Simmons. “There’s numerous warning signs. You can also see with your own eyes that the curvature of the roadway would dictate that you slow down.”
Twenty-five were reported in the last four years, with five involving semi trucks and 67 percent caused by unsafe speeds, according to ODOT.
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Excessive speed was a factor in Monday’s crash, according to troopers.
While there were nine crashes reported on the overpass in 2015, the amount has continued to decrease each year.
Seven crashes were reported in 2016, five in 2017 and 4 in 2018, according to ODOT.
Multiple people called 911 dispatchers regarding Monday’s accident, with at least two callers mentioning the pigs.
“[The truck] was hauling pigs,” a man told a dispatcher.
“Pigs? Like an oink?” the dispatcher asked.
“Yes, oink oink pigs,” the caller said. “Yes, we’ve got pigs running around the highway.”
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Another semi truck picked up the pigs about two hours after the crash.
DAS Transit has been involved in two injury crashes within the past two years, according to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.
“We were saddened to hear about the pigs who were injured and killed ... Pigs and other farm animals endure intolerable cruelty every day in factory farms, slaughterhouses and in transit,” said Farm Sanctuary president and co-founder Gene Baur.