The driver of a semi-tractor trailer that crashed on Highway 30 this (Thursday) morning claims he lost consciousness in the moments immediately before colliding with a bridge guardrail. The Carroll County Sheriff’s Office was dispatched to the scene between Quail and Robin Avenues at approximately 5:46 a.m. Their initial investigation determined 39-year-old Justin Ricardo Franklin of West Des Moines was traveling westbound in a 2018 Volvo semi-tractor trailer, owned by Potthoff Foods of Des Moines, when he fainted. The truck drifted across the eastbound lane and hit the rail on the Storm Creek Bridge. Franklin was transported to St. Anthony Regional Hospital by Carroll County Emergency Medical Services for treatment of suspected minor injuries. Damage to the semi is estimated at $50,000 and the bridge rail also sustained approximately $6,500 in damage. Traffic on Highway 30 had to be rerouted for nearly three hours Thursday morning while authorities cleared the scene.
