Goodyear North American Highway Hero Award, 2010

Tilden Curl accepts the Highway Hero Award

The Goodyear Highway Hero Award is the most prestigious of it’s kind, honoring truck drivers who put themselves in harm’s way to help others. This award was created in 1983 to boost the image of the trucking industry and give recognition to courageous truckers for their selfless acts that save lives. “Truck drivers are often first responders to on-highway incidents, springing into action without regard for their own well-being and putting their lives on the line to save others,” said Phillip Kane, vice president, Goodyear Commercial Tire Systems.

Tilden Curl, a truck driver from Olympia, Wash., saves the lives of two people in a car that had come to a stop on railroad tracks. Curl was driving on Highway 99 near Tulare, Calif., when he saw a car leave the highway and come to a stop on a nearby set of railroad tracks. A train was rapidly approaching. An elderly woman exited the passenger side of the car and Tilden told her to move away from the tracks. He then noticed that the car’s driver was unconscious and trapped inside. Tilden unfastened the man’s seat belt and pulled him out of the car just seconds before the speeding train slammed into it.

-Goodyear’s North American Highway Hero Award Past Winners

Tilden gets a snapshot with his well-earned award plaque

You can watch and listen to Tilden Curl’s acceptance speech of the Highway Hero award here.