Truck leaking canola oil leads to multiple accidents in Macon

Trucks spread sand for miles Tuesday as if Macon were about to get socked with a winter storm.

A truck leaking an estimated 1,100 gallons of canola oil is blamed for slickening streets and triggering multiple accidents Tuesday morning in Macon.

The extent of the spill was apparent about 8 a.m. once accidents were reported and cars were sliding from Raines Avenue up Broadway to Eisenhower Parkway to Interstate 75.

Macon-Bibb County firefighters were called along with Macon-Bibb Public Works employees to put down sand to absorb the oil and increase traction after the first accident was reported at Broadway and Eisenhower.

The Bibb County Sheriff’s Office was called to a four-vehicle accident on I-75 northbound at the Interstate 16 split in which at least two people were sent to the hospital.

Another accident was reported slightly farther north near the median cut-through south of Pierce Avenue.

A third interstate accident was reported near Riverside Drive.

Authorities called the Georgia Department of Transportation, and the leaking truck was stopped near mile marker 193 in Monroe County.

Bibb deputies later learned that the truck traveled north on Eisenhower, got on I-75 South and turned around at Rocky Creek, creating slick spots there, too.

The truck got on I-75 North and headed on, trailing canola oil in its wake.

Tuesday, Bibb County deputies arrested the driver, William Tanksley, 38, from Ellenwood, according to the sheriff’s office. He was charged with having an unsecured load.

This story was originally published May 12, 2015 at 9:17 AM with the headline "Truck leaking canola oil leads to multiple accidents in Macon ."