By NEAL WAGNER / Managing Editor

ALABASTER – Alabaster City Administrator Brian Binzer is recovering at UAB Hospital after he and his family were involved in a head-on vehicle collision on Alabama 119 on the evening of Jan. 20.

The crash happened after Binzer and his family left the Publix supermarket on Alabama 119 and were traveling northbound on the highway toward Thompson Road. A pickup truck traveling in the opposite direction lost a wheel, causing the driver to lose control, cross into oncoming traffic and strike Binzer’s vehicle head-on on the driver’s side.

“The steering wheel and dash caved in around him. It took the Alabaster Fire Department about 30 minutes to cut Brian out of the car,” said Alabaster Mayor Marty Handlon. “His side of the car took the majority of the impact. He is a miracle, because that was a scary crash.”

Binzer suffered a broken femur, damaged femur socket, torn diaphragm and broken ribs, and underwent multiple surgeries after he was transported from the crash scene to UAB Hospital.

Binzer’s wife and children were also in the vehicle, but all were either unharmed or suffered relatively minor injuries.

During a City Council meeting two days after the crash, Handlon and council members expressed their sympathy to Binzer and his family, and encouraged those in attendance to pray for his recovery.

On Jan. 27, Handlon said Binzer, who was still respiring with the help of a breathing tube, began communicating with her and council members via text message, and thanked them for their support during the previous week.

While Binzer is recovering, Handlon, City Clerk Mark Frey and other city leaders are working to cover his duties with the city, Handlon said.

Binzer has been with the city since he was hired as the city’s manager in late 2016. He came to Alabaster from Marietta, Georgia, where he served as the director of development services. Binzer was named as Alabaster’s administrator and planner in October 2018, after the City Council voted to create the position earlier the same month.