Goodyear Named North American Highway Hero

(Akron/Tire Review) Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. named a Texas truck driver who saved a family trapped in their car in a water-filled ditch as its 22nd North American Highway Hero. The award was announced Mar. 31 at the Mid-America Truck Show in Louisville, Ky.

Rick Dent – a 6-foot, 300-pound, Diana, Texas, driver for Groendyke Transport Inc. – came to the aid of Bob Strickland and his two small children last July when Strickland’s car swerved to miss a deer and ended up in a snake-infested 6-foot-deep ditch along U.S. Highway 84 near Jena, La.

“The car was filling up with water, and a man in a big red truck pulls up, jumps out, runs to the water’s edge, looks at me and says ‘Are you OK?’,” said Strickland.

Disregarding the numerous snakes in the water, Dent swam to the sinking car and rescued the family.

Dent received a $10,000 U.S. Savings Bond from Goodyear, as well as a specially designed size 17 Goodyear Highway Hero ring for his nearly 3-1/2-inch diameter finger.

“Bob Strickland described Rick Dent as a huge man, in a big red truck. He saw Rick Dent as larger than life … someone with a big heart. Other motorists may have continued on their way, but Rick Dent stopped to help someone in need. Because of that decision, three lives were saved, and Rick has earned the right to be called a hero,” said Donn Kramer, director of marketing for Goodyear commercial tire systems.