A Florida truck driver was killed yesterday after he got out of his 18-wheeler along Interstate 95 in Stafford County and fell in the path of an oncoming vehicle, Virginia State Police said.

Lucy Caldwell, police spokeswoman, said troopers stopped the 49-year-old truck driver at 10:25 a.m. after he was seen running over a guardrail and a highway sign while making a U-turn on Route 17.

The driver worked for JB Hunt Transport Service of Lowell, Ark. Police would not identify him yesterday, saying they still are trying to contact his relatives in Kissimmee, Fla.

Caldwell said that police asked the man to pull his vehicle to a nearby rest stop, where they could talk with him, but that he apparently declined, saying his truck had a flat tire and he didn't want to cause any more damage to it.

Police said the man was in the process of getting orange safety equipment out of the cab of his truck when he stumbled and fell onto the right lane of I-95, was struck by a pickup and killed.

"It was a freak accident," Caldwell said. "It was very strange."

Police said the accident closed the right and center lanes on I-95 South for almost two hours and tied up traffic for about 10 miles while investigators worked at the scene.

Police said the driver of the pickup would not be charged in the incident.

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