Groendyke Transport driver Carl Cormier recently was named a Truckload Carriers Association Highway Angel for a miraculous stop that saved a woman’s life.
On April 30, 2017, Cormier started his typical workday. He departed Mississippi in the early-morning darkness and began to approach Mobile AL. As he was traveling down I-10, he could make out the faint shape of a person in the shadows running across the road several miles ahead. He assumed they were determined to make it across to the other side, but when the shadow got to the barrier in the median, it stopped and turned toward him.
Cormier was still approaching at a highway speed when the shadow started running. Confused, he attempted to avoid the moving figure by veering to the right to open the left lanes, but the figure, not fully in his headlights yet, continued to follow his movements, running back and forth in his lane. Cormier, without assistance from the collision migration system, quickly braked to a complete stop and was finally able to see the figure clearly—a distressed woman.
She was screaming belligerently at him. He couldn’t understand anything she was yelling, but she appeared furious that he had thwarted her suicide attempt. Cormier knew it was incredibly unsafe to stay stopped on the freeway in the dark, and a truck coming up behind almost hit him. He tried to drive around the woman, but she wouldn’t let him pass.
At this moment, Cormier noticed a man to the side of the road. He stepped out of the shadows and grabbed the woman by the arm. About 20 yards farther, he saw the woman walking on the shoulder towards a van on the shoulder further up the road. Cormier remembers, “My only thought was that they must have been together and she had a breaking point. It scared me to death because I’ve never had anything like that happen to me.”
It took several days for him to stop thinking about the incident. He says one of his main rules has always been to keep his eyes securely focused on the road, even when driving in his car. He says this is probably why he could spot the situation as early as he did and avoid a tragedy.
“Even though I was able to avoid hitting the woman, it was still very scary because what if I killed that woman? That was the part that upset me,” Cormier said. “It was by the grace of God that truck didn’t run into the back of me, and that I was able to stop safely and avoid killing that woman.
“Pay attention, always keep your eyes moving looking for something even if it’s not there. Seems like people pop up at the last minute especially on your right side and get frustrated with us, the truck drivers. But we are just doing our jobs and trying to stay safe.”
Cormier is the epitome of a Highway Angel. He is cautious and alert while driving and truly is the eyes and ears of the industry out on the road. TCA salutes Cormier’s work ethic, attention to detail, and especially his skill that morning that resulted in saving a woman’s life. TCA presented him with a certificate, patch, lapel pin and truck decals. Groendyke Transport also received a certificate acknowledging Cormier as a Highway Angel.
Cormier works out of Houston for Groendyke, which operates 30 terminals nationwide and is one of the largest tank truck carriers in the nation.
Salt Lake City-based EpicVue sponsors TCA’s Highway Angel program. Since the program’s inception in August 1997, hundreds of drivers have been recognized as Highway Angels for the exemplary kindness, courtesy, and courage they have displayed while on the job.