Highway Angels

Michael Hunt receives Highway Angel of the Year trophy

Michael Hunt was presented the 2009 Highway Angel of the Year trophy before a crowd of 34,000 football fans at the Roady’s Humanitarian Bowl at Boise State University’s Bronco Stadium on Dec. 30. The presentation marked the second time that a Truckload Carriers Association (TCA) Highway Angel has been thus honored during the highly publicized, post-season, NCAA-sanctioned Division I FBS college football game.
     Hunt, a former truck driver for Mail Contractors of America of Little Rock, AR, and now an owner-operator, helped to save a life at the scene of an otherwise fatal accident.
     Hunt was driving his tractor-trailer at approximately 2:20 a.m. when he came across a two-car collision that had just occurred on NC 24 near Spring Lake, NC. Two vehicles were involved in the crash and had come to rest within five feet of each other. Initially, Hunt attempted to put out the flames on one of the vehicles with his fire extinguisher. But the blaze was too strong, and that driver perished.
     Realizing that the second driver was still alive, Hunt used his own tractor-trailer to push the vehicle away from the fire, receiving damage to his own vehicle in the process. The North Carolina State Highway Patrol later honored Hunt with an award for valor.
“It was an honor to witness Michael Hunt being named Highway Angel of the Year,” said TCA Chairman Kevin Burch, who is also the president of Jet Express, Inc. of Dayton, OH.
     Hunt was selected as Highway Angel of the Year by a subcommittee of the TCA Communications and Image Policy Committee, which ranked his good deed against those of the other Angels named in 2009. The subcommittee utilized a scorecard of criteria, such as how many other motorists stopped to help, the degree of difficulty for the good deed performed, and information provided by highway officials and incident bystanders.