I’m pretty sure everyone reading this has, at some point, fought off some really dangerous and absurd driving urges. Stomping on the gas and weaving through traffic, jumping over a drawbridge, all that sort of thing. A common one of these is when you see a flatbed tow truck with the bed raised, forming a nice inviting ramp. Who among us hasn’t wondered what it might be like to stomp the go pedal and point the car right at that ramp? Well, it looks like someone actually did it, and the result sure looks like a remake of a Dukes of Hazzard stunt (remember, they were also supposed to be in Georgia), at least at first. The end has a lot less people in tiny jean shorts and a lot more car-wrecking-on-its-side. Per Fox 5 Atlanta, this all happened in Southern Georgia, and the video of it was caught on a police officer’s body cam. Oh, and Fox 5 says that reports indicate that the person in the airborne car survived, so you can enjoy the madness with a clear-ish conscience.
Here’s the video from the police bodycam, via the news team at WMAZ:
Holy crap, right? Just for comparison’s sake, here’s a similar jump from the Dukes of Hazzard, since I’m sure you’re thinking about that now:
Yes, reality is a lot messier, but, to its credit, we’re at least spared hearing Dixie played on a car horn, so there’s that.
I can’t really make out the type of car that made the jump, but it did manage to catch a lot of air. Why it canted so dramatically over to its side I don’t fully understand, either:
Perhaps the person in the passenger’s seat was heavier?
Details as to exactly why the car drove up over the ramp were not released, and the Lowndes County Sheriff’s office has yet to give any more information. From Fox 5 News Atlanta:
The body camera video is from a Lowndes County Sheriff’s deputy, who was responding to a crash along Highway 84. While at the scene, a car cruising along and ramps off the back of tow truck along the side of the road, flipping, and landing upright.
Deputies then are seen rushing to the aid of the driver.
The woman driving the car survived, according to multiple reports, but her condition was not currently known.
Details about the initial crash or the car flipping have not officially been released by deputies.
Happened yesterday in Rural South Georgia (Valdosta/Lowndes County.) There was another accident that happened just before this… these people were rubber necking not paying attention and didn’t see the
ramptow vehicle. The people in the car were banged up but survived, I’m not sure how. Tow truck crash bar was ripped off, but the cab was fine. There is another view of this floating around from a different source this one is from an officer’s body cam… one of the police cars also got footage. Not sure if it was supposed to be leaked but we all got the video within minutes of it happening.
I guess the lesson here is to continue to fight those dumb urges, or, maybe even better, pay attention to what you’re driving toward.
I think they went up the ramp with their ride side wheels either fully off the side or falling off just as they hit the peak, sending the car into a bit of a barrel roll.
Dear God i hope the driver loses their license for a very long time.We all make mistakes but something of this scale is unforgivable
Happened right down the road from me…luckily I got the video soon enough to add the Duke’s of Hazzard music playing over it…!!!!
WHY was there not a single one of the very many cop cars on the scene (I mean…seriously) not positioned behind that rollback to guide that oncoming traffic into the right lane to prevent this very thing from happening?
The truck was on the opposite side of the highway from them, and come to think of it, from the accident. Why did it have the ramp down when the cars involved in the accident were on the other side of a median and a ditch? It was in the wrong place, why did they stop and put down the ramp?
Right? It’s just sitting there by itself in the passing lane with its ramp down while the opposite side of the highway is offering a metric fuckton of distraction. All things considered it’s not at all surprising (other than the Beau & Luke bit) that someone ran into it.
That would require them being competent.
Distracted driver went all flying squirrel – didn’t hit ramp on center with centerline of car, thus the lean to the right. (Conservative guess…)
More Roger Moore I think
https://youtu.be/fzCIbhLUUA0
Needs slide whistle
Dear god that’s scary. You couldn’t pay me enough to be a road worker or tow driver these days.
I passed a guy changing his tire on the side of the freeway today, just feet from the white line, traffic screaming past.
Is this the right place for a little PSA rant?
Of course it is. It’s the Autopian.
If you have to repair something on the side of the highway, don’t pull off and park perfectly parallel to the lines.
Get the nose of the vehicle pointed as far off the shoulder as possible and leave the ass sticking out as much as can safely be done for protection.
Think about it. Do you want to be hit directly (car vs human) by a distracted driver or would you rather get hit by your car that they hit.
It might not save you, but it gives you a better chance. At least you are bringing crumple zones that aren’t your bones and inertia into the equation.
A good friend of mine taught me this by accident. She had to pull off on (the) I5 to change a passenger side flat and due to not wanting to destroy her wheel was parked at kinda a funny angle on the shoulder.
A Silverado slammed into her car at about 50 mph.
She never saw it coming. She recalls loosening a lug nut, hearing an explosion and snapping out of the adrenaline dump, still squatting there holding the tire iron unscathed, looking 20-30 feet up the road at her now mangled Forester.
I’ve had flat tires since her story, and have completely rethought the angle I park to change them based on her story and which tire it is that I need to change.
Cue the rainbow glitter.
The more you know.
Craziest thing I saw was someone casually changing their tire in the passing lane on 75 in Detroit. There is (or was) a breakdown lane adjacent to the passing lane! I assume he was on drugs.
Friend of mine (traffic cop / accident investigator) had a story about the police in the UK responding to a huge crash on the hard-shoulder: a van driver had had a heart attack and ploughed straight into the back of a stationary Mercedes. Both blokes in the van dead. Merc is still ticking over, with nothing apparently wrong with it (apart from the crash damage), but no driver, checked all the ditches etc etc, no sign.
A few hours later there’s reports of a bloke in a shirt and tie wandering around in a farmer’s field not too far away, and the local cops go fetch him:.. he’s not making any sense, no idea who he is, but dressed well enough (ie good clothes), no id, nothing in his pockets save a hankie. Take him to the station to get checked out and get a psych eval.
Eventually it turns out he’s the driver of the Merc from the motorway crash, he’d heard a funny noise under the bonnet so pulled over to check it out, engine running, doors closed, business suit jacket, briefcase, wallet etc on the passenger seat….
The very instant he lifted his head out from under the bonnet, the van hit the car.
I’m not surprised he went walkabout for a while!
Clearly a setup. Some stupid stunt.
Like DoH. But not as stupid.
Nah. Just a stupid inattentive driver.