Driver says head bump knocked him out

A driver involved in a crash that shut down westbound Interstate 526 for six hours Wednesday said he was knocked unconscious after his truck hit a bump, and he doesn't remember the wreck, according to a crash report.

Matthew Middleton, 25, of West Branch, Mich., was ticketed for careless driving after the accident about 1:50 p.m. just northeast of the interchange with Paul Cantrell Boulevard. He was not seriously injured in the crash that did $100,000 in damage to an electronic message board spanning the westbound lanes.

The crash, which shut down all westbound lanes much of the evening and one eastbound lane for part of the afternoon, forced traffic onto local roads and created headaches throughout West Ashley and downtown Charleston.

Traffic was bumper to bumper on most major roads in West Ashley, including U.S. Highway 17 and Ashley River Road, until 526 was reopened.

Middleton's 18-wheeler, a vehicle carrier without cargo, went off the westbound side of the road, into the median and hit the foundation of the message board. Crews from the S.C. Department of Transportation removed the overhead portion of the sign and reopened the Mark Clark Expressway about 7:50 p.m.

Tony Sheppard, the DOT's director of traffic engineering, said crews salvaged the electronic sign but will have to replace the structure that supports it.

"Once that gets impacted, any movement could make it shift," Sheppard said. "We had to get in there and get it down."

Witnesses told investigators from the Charleston Police Department that it didn't appear as though the truck driver braked before striking the signpost.

Reach Andrew Knapp at 937-5414 or on Twitter at @offlede.