January 1, Wind Turbine Blade Causes Major Highway Chaos

Wyatt’s Take

• Massive wind turbine blade caused a mess on a busy Maryland interstate
• Green energy’s risks often get overlooked by officials
• Thankfully, nobody was seriously hurt in the crash

Early on a Monday morning, folks on Interstate 70 in Maryland got a shock when a wind turbine blade broke loose from a truck and slammed right into traffic. One person wound up hurt after all the commotion, according to state officials.

Maryland State Highway Administration reported, “At approximately 5:30 a.m., a tractor trailer traveling westbound on I-70 was pulling a wind turbine blade that struck the guardrail causing the blade to go partially into the eastbound lanes. The blade was then clipped by a tractor trailer traveling eastbound.”

That accident left all westbound lanes and two eastbound lanes of I-70 closed down during the morning rush. For people just trying to get to work and live their lives, this is the kind of dangerous hassle no one needs.

Photos from transportation cameras showed the huge blade sprawled across the highway, blocking traffic both ways. Crews had their hands full getting the truck backed up and clearing the mess. In the end, all lanes were back open before 8:30 a.m.

The turbine blade belonged to the Roth Rock wind project in Oakland, Maryland. That project has been running since 2011 with a field of gigantic turbines looming near the Mettiki Coal processing plant. These blades and wind towers don’t just take up a lot of land—accidents like this show how moving them is no small feat either.

Officials said heavy tow crews had to cut the guardrail to get things moving again. “The entire unit was then driven up to I-70 west of Md. Rt. 63 and parked on the wide shoulder,” shared an announcement.

In the aftermath, only one person needed to go to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. It was a blessing this didn’t end much worse. Anytime you see these so-called green energy parts traveling down the road, remember the risks regular people face for trendy policies.

Wyatt Matters

It’s everyday folks who wind up paying the price—sometimes in blood—when our leaders try to push fancy green projects without thinking it through. Accidents like this prove how working Americans pay for the mistakes at the top. We deserve safe roads and simple, common-sense policies that put our lives above big energy experiments.

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