Crash Test Dummies – a New Use for Pole Barns

I’ve spoken a lot about the re-purposing of pole buildings for uses other than what was originally intended. Barns become homes, shops, businesses, etc. Here is one which I had never considered, from an October 25, 2015 article first published in www.dailyitem .com and written by Eric Scicchitano (photo by author).

crash-test-dummy-symbol“A motorist was flung from a barrel-rolling pickup truck and into a pole barn roof 17 feet above ground before landing in a pile of hay Tuesday night.

The male driver of the Ford pickup was driven by ambulance to an area hospital. His identity and the extent of his injuries weren’t immediately known. He was the vehicle’s only occupant.

The crash occurred about 7 p.m. along the Middleburg-New Berlin Highway, about one-half mile north of Middleburg. Impact into the barn startled the 20 cows inside, which ran out into the neighboring pasture.

Jarred Hassinger, of Middleburg, was working at a neighbor’s barn when he turned toward his family’s property.

“I looked back and all I saw was a cloud of dust and the cows running loose,” Hassinger said.

The driver was initially unconscious, Hassinger said, but came to before emergency responders arrived.

According to Hassinger, the pickup was traveling south when its driver lost control. It appeared to have turned broadside in the roadway and rolled down an embankment and into the barn, he said.

A dent was left in the rain gutter and roof area where the motorist struck the roof. He landed in the hay piled inside a rack.

State police at Selinsgrove are investigating. No further information was available at deadline.”

Now I am not going to seriously recommend one designs their new post frame (pole) buildings with the idea of them someday being used to catch flying motorists. I do always encourage folks who are designing their new buildings to consider how they or others may use the building in the future.

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