Trucker featured on 'The Today Show' killed in Tennessee accident

Scene of the wreck in which trucker Daren Baird was killed Wednesday morning. (Photo by Clay Owen/Knoxville News Sentinel)

The Trucker News Services

12/11/2008

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Daren Baird, the 61-year-old trucker featured on NBC’s “The Today Show” in a segment about the country’s most dangerous jobs, was killed yesterday morning during rush hour traffic on Interstate 275 in Tennessee at the Oldham Avenue interchange.

The Knoxville News Sentinel on its Web site reported that authorities were alerted about 8:45 a.m. Eastern Time Wednesday that Baird’s McCormick Trucking rig had run off I-275 “for some unknown reason.” Her truck slammed through a 12-foot section of the interstate barrier wall and down a steep embankment. The cab was stuck in a crumpled heap at the bottom of a 50-foot drop and it took firefighters until a little after 10 a.m. before they could free her body from the cab, Knoxville Fire Department spokesman Darrell DeBusk was quoted as saying.

Authorities at first had not identified Baird, but released her name this morning.

A resident of Forest Park, Ga., Baird had her moments of fame on May 21 when she took “The Today Show” host Meredith Vieira on a ride-along that the TV personality later described to The Trucker as “a great education” about the industry.

The show presented trucking in a positive light and showed that truckers are well-spoken, smart, informed, and can handle themselves in front of the TV camera.

Ellen Voie, president of Women In Trucking, said Baird was a WIT member who will be sorely missed, someone who left the legacy of a “positive impact” on the other WIT members as well as the industry as a whole.

“We’re saddened by the loss,” said Voie, clearly overcome with emotion upon learning of Baird’s death this morning.

Drivers commented on the Knoxville News’ Web site that there was bad weather the morning of the accident and “people were driving like idiots” with automobiles weaving in and out of traffic and passing on the shoulders.

As of this morning, police are still investigating the accident, the News Sentinel reported.

To read the article about Baird’s appearance on “The Today Show” that appeared in The Trucker click here.