Driver said he 'blacked out' before incident
By BRENDAN O'BRIEN
Journal Times | Posted: Monday, August 6, 2007 12:00 am
RACINE - Two men were uninjured Monday afternoon when their pickup truck ended up down the Lake Michigan bluff at the end of 16th Street on the city's south side.
At a few minutes before 5 p.m., Gus Tavo, a welder from Racine, was driving his 1988 GMC Sierra east on 16th Street at Main Street when, as he put it, he blacked out for a moment.
"It was just too hot," he said. "Good thing we didn't go all the way in (to the lake). In the middle of it, I didn't know how I was going to get out."
Tavo said he woke up in the middle of the intersection about a second before his truck hit the guard rail and started its descent down the 200-foot, grassy embankment. He said his first thought was, "Hit the brakes, but it (was) too late."
A few dozen bikers and walkers, enjoying the mild late afternoon weather, stopped to watch workers from Floyds & Sons Towing pull the truck off the riprap.
"I thought I was going to die," said passenger James Jones, 46, of Racine. "I don't know how to swim. I am awful damn lucky."
The truck came to a stop with its rear passenger side wheel off the ground. Tavo and Jones left the truck through the passenger-side door.
Vehicles occasionally end up down the ravine, according to police at the scene. "It's not unheard of," said police officer Joe Stevens.