Know a highway hero? Nominate them for Goodyear’s award

The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company is accepting nominations for its 33rd Highway Hero Award through Nov. 29.

The Goodyear Highway Hero Award was established in 1983 to honor truck drivers who put themselves in harm’s way to help others.

2015 Highway Hero Clinton Blackburn with Deputy Darrell Herdon

Goodyear announces the winner next March during the 2016 Mid-America Trucking Show (MATS) in Louisville, Ky.

Last year’s winner, Clinton Backburn, a truck driver from Morehead, Ky., rescued a law enforcement official who was being strangled by a prisoner he was transporting. The previous year’s recipient, Ivan Vasovic, rescued a fellow truck driver from a burning tanker truck that was hanging over the side of a freeway overpass.

Other past winners include a truck driver who rescued a family of six from a crushed minivan, a driver who saved a woman from a gun-wielding attacker, and a driver who pulled an elderly man from a car before it was destroyed by an oncoming train.

“The Goodyear Highway Hero Award honors truck drivers who put their lives on the line to save others from deadly situations,” said Gary Medalis, director of marketing, Goodyear Commercial Tire Systems.

To nominate a truck driver for Goodyear’s 33rd Highway Hero Award, click on this link, fill out the nomination form, and hit the “submit” button. This will send your nomination directly to Goodyear. For consideration, candidates must meet the following criteria:

  • Must be a full-time truck driver
  • Must reside in the U.S. or Canada
  • The heroic incident must have happened in the U.S. or Canada
  • Nominee’s truck must have had 12 wheels or more at the time of the incident
  • Nominee must have been on the job – or on the way to and from work, in his or her truck – at the time of the incident
  • Incident must have taken place between Nov. 16, 2014, and Nov. 16, 2015

After the Goodyear Highway Hero Award nomination period ends Nov. 29, the list of eligible Highway Hero Award candidates will be narrowed down to three finalists, and a panel of trucking industry judges will select the winner.