Monroe woman’s truck falls into ravine off Rt. 460

A Monroe woman was shaken up, but not badly injured after a wreck on U.S. 460 on Thursday afternoon that ended with her truck at the bottom of a 40-foot ravine, Lynchburg police said.

Officer R.T. Flynn said shortly after 7 p.m., Jessica Wright, 21, was driving a 2004 Dodge Ram 1500 east on U.S. 460 between Campbell Avenue and Candlers Mountain Road, when she momentarily took her eyes off the road.

Flynn said that split-second was all it took for her truck to run off the right side of the road between a guardrail and an embankment, before coming to rest in the ravine.

Flynn said Wright suffered minor injures and likely totaled her truck, but was able to get out of the truck on her own power.

Wright was fortunate in that the truck didn’t strike any trees or overturn, Flynn said, adding that Wright’s seat belt and the size of the truck were instrumental in saving her life.

Flynn said Wright was charged with reckless driving for failure to maintain control of the vehicle.

Wright also had a dog in the backseat, Flynn said, which also was uninjured.

Both eastbound lanes of U.S. 460 were closed for about 30 minutes, Flynn said, and police were only waiting on a wrecker for the truck in order to reopen the right lane at about 9 p.m.