It’s no fun driving behind a slow truck, especially when your car is a very winter-capable Subaru WRX. What’s the point of having symmetrical all-wheel drive if you can’t use it? A snowy weekend is the perfect time to go drive your Subie, but when you do so please do better than this driver and don’t attempt to make a blind pass on a snowy road. You never know what’s coming the other way.
A major winter storm did to the Eastern Coast what my daughter normally does to any dish when she gets ahold of a can of whipped cream. From Virginia up through Maine just about everything is smothered in a lay of sparkling snow and ice. This storm has already claimed more than 40 lives according to the Associated Press, but the good news is that this videos contains none of those people.
The clip below comes from this week’s snow storm and was posted by the New York State Department of Transportation, which operates plows that salt and clear the state’s many thoroughfares. Warning, even though no one is hurt in this video, it’s pretty gnarly. The video is on NYS DOT’s Facebook Page and X/Twitter, so pick your poison there. I’m going to embed it in FB form here:
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=2030086324024256
You can see pretty clearly what happened. There’s an 18-wheeler heading one direction on a two-lane road and our Mr. Plow headed the other way. Behind the 18-wheeler is a Subaru WRX and, as the video begins, the WRX is already about halfway through passing the big truck.
Either because the driver didn’t see the massive yellow plow or saw it too late, the driver decides the best course of action isn’t to slam on the brakes but to try and to Colin McRae themselves out of the way. Obviously, that doesn’t work as the WRX is mid-slide while the plow is attempting to brake. While the WRX almost pulls it off, almost is a pretty dangerous place to be.
Twitter user Erik Ghirarduzzi happened to be passing by the accident, which he says occurred in the Adirondacks between Inlet, New York and Blue Mountain. It looks like the crash probably occurred on State Route 28, but I’m not 100% sure.
So what happened to the Subaru? Erik got a picture of that as well. It’s not pretty:
Yeah, that’s half a Subaru where a whole Subaru used to be. The driver of the car is extremely lucky to escape unharmed and even more lucky that no one was in the back seat because it’s hard to believe anyone surviving back there.
It’s hard to say for sure what the driver should have done in this situation because there’s so little room and the roads are covered in snow. It’s possible the driver could have tried to brake and duck back behind the 18-wheeler, but that’s assuming there was enough time to make that maneuver work. At the same time, Just braking slowly in a straight line might have reduced the speed, but that’s a hard call to make while staring down a plow, which is basically a scooped blade.
Obviously, the right choice was just to not make a blind pass of an 18-wheeler just because your car is a very capable snow machine. You can’t outrun physics and, clearly, you can’t outrun the snow plow’s blade.
H/T to JCat on the Autopian Discord
Photos: Erik Ghiraduzzi and NYS DOT
AWD to FWD in the blink of an eye.
At least you can drive both halfs home.
One half might be missing a motor…
I realized that after I posted it but, since I couldn’t delete or think of a way to save it through editing, I decided to take the hit this time and resolve to pay a little more attention the next time a front-engined, all-wheel-drive vehicle is split in two.
Personally, I’ve NEVER enthusiastically posted a possibly foolish comment before only to regret it after the edit window closed. Yep, not yet. Not to me. It’s not like it’s happened more times than I can possibly count. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it. Oh, I’m not totally full of shit either.
Wrong movie, you are thinking about the Love Bug, this is Half and Furious.
What did you expect? It’s a Subaru WRX (pronounced wrecks).
You don’t fuck with Mr. Plow…
Unless you’re Mrs. Plow or, maybe, Mr. Plow’s receptionist.
Or the Plow King
Or Plow King, he kind of fucked up his whole business
I’m shocked that I don’t see a cloud of vape smoke emanating from the car or a single CASH, GRASS, OR ASS NO ONE RIDES FREE sticker
A trail of empty MONSTER cans littering the road
The Brazzers license plate frame is a common JDM Bro signature as well
Hope the driver was wearing brown pants.
Likely was at the end.
The lemonade in this situation is a Factory Five 818S kit car.
When the conditions are dangerous, just don’t drive unless you have to. Give the road crews, fire department, ambulance service, etc. the road to themselves…
With that said, my stepfather was just trying to get home to check on his mother, when an out of control plow truck almost cut his Peugeot 504 in half. Then the axle broke on the tow truck that was giving him & the plow truck driver a lift. Then the police car that gave him, the plow driver, and the tow truck driver a lift, also broke down. It basically took him all night just to get to a restaurant that was open to warm up in a wait for a friend to give him a lift…
I believe Space Ghost said it best when he said,
“YOUR SON IS A MORON!!!!”
You’re killing me, Squalls!
Grosjean’d it.
Split in Twobaru
Ran when parked
Man, these car reveals are getting out of control. So that’s what the WRX coupe looks like!
Subie-leggera!
The good news is:
Insurance will pay for a new car
No licences were lost
No lessons were learned
This driver has a viral video to post on his social media page to attract equally dumb potential mates.
Idiocracy prevailed again!
/s
He was clearly living on a prayer.
and was heard to have said: “We’ll make it, I swear!”
He let Jesus take the wheels.
Unfortunately Jesus lived in the Bronze Age and couldn’t drive for shit.
*Classical Era, two ages after Bronze, but point still stands
This is quality pedantry, I learned something.
Shit, I knew I would be too late to get in with that one!
Should’ve started typing in the Bronze Age.
The thing that amazes me the most—alas, stupidity doesn’t anymore—is that plow doesn’t move an inch when the car hits it. The camera doesn’t even jiggle a tiny bit.
Where are the photos of the plow? I hope it wasn’t damaged.
Looks like the plow itself took a ton of the energy. You can see the plow turn during the hit!
Just reinforces the idea that you do not want to fight a plow truck.
If he had only had a Cobb shifter
[applause]
And the correct air pressure in his tires…
Surprised to see the ass on the flatbed, thought for sure it was handed to him.
COTD!
He’ll keep it for posterity.
I get it!
I hate getting stuck behind a slow moving truck. However in winter weather with limited visibility I am more than happy to tuck in behind a fullback semi put one sides tires in one of their ruts and slowly and safely make my way home, moreso if it is a plow. Remember public roads are for transportation not for idiots to prove they aren’t a professional driver on a closed coarse.
This what insurance people call an At Fault Accident. Not a lot to argue about with this one. Just accept that your rates are going up for three years plus deductible. So not worth it.
BTW, pretty sure that one’s totaled. 😀
Insurance cos are always way too eager to total cars. That’ll buff right out.
Well in this case they’re half right…
Well said, Sir….
If the driver’s a young’un he’s already paying $10k a year.
After this self-induced collision I’d imagine no insurer will touch him.
Indeed. And it went viral. Ouch.
Just move to SC. Nobody has insurance there or licenses. Multiple DUIs welcome. Plus, no snowplows.
If David Tracy can find another split WRX, surely he could combine the halves and make a working car in 4 weeks.
My first full time job was at a collision center. I helped piece 2 cars together. Just offering David help. lol
In this instance, two is most definitely not better than one.
Aside from the fact that the 18-wheeler driver has some brass balls to drive that rig in those conditions on that road, the WRX driver thought his were bigger. Until they were…torn asunder.
One of the sad things about performance cars, is that many of their owners think that having above average vehicle capabilities, means that they don’t need to adhere to the same safety and courtesy requirements as those driving more plebian vehicles.
The truth is, that a wider performance envelope is actually a constant and immutable danger to those who fail to respect them. And this causes more death and destruction than is easy to convery in a few words. I’ve seen way too much of this in my professional life.
You can tell a new motorcyclist to avoid the 600cc sport bike. Some will listen. But more often than not, a plea for common sense is ignored. It’s a Dunning-Kruger thing.
I live in a mountain region and pretty much every vehicle I see off the road in winter is a 4×4 truck or SUV, driven by someone who clearly thought that feature allowed them to drive like it was sunny and 65. As someone who learned to drive to my teenage job at a ski resort in an ancient rear wheel drive sedan that was positively lousy in the snow, I learned the hard way what to do when things start to go sideways. It’s been a useful education ever since.
How did they fit a ski resort in an ancient rear wheel drive sedan?
Must’ve been a fuselage Chrysler Imperial.
More likely it was a Dodge Aspen.
1970 Mercedes 250 🙂
FWD hatchbacks are surprisingly good in the snow. Particularly older ones with skinny tyres, all the weight over the front wheels, and barely enough power to spin the wheels even on ice.
Not surprising. Aren’t most vehicle especially those in mountainous areas either 4×4 or SUV?
Dont you love it! I learned on tractors and dirt bikes myself.It helps enormously
Some feel like ignorance is not only ok, but a thing of beauty.
And they vote that way.
“One of the sad things about performance cars, is that many of their owners think that having above average vehicle capabilities”
As the owner of a Mustang GT I can relate given the video’s on YouTube in which you see the owner of a Mustang GT with an automatic try to do a burn out, briefly take their foot off the accelerator before flooring it again thinking they have their foot on the brakes. It always ends in a smash without any brake lights coming on…
I also have to say that many people over-estimate their capabilities while driving a non-performance car. As a chronic medical patient, I live walking distance to the hospital where I am treated. The road down the hill is a twenty to twenty five mph road due to the limited visibility & lack of a sidewalk or bike lane. One of the employees at said hospital has come racing up behind at forty to fifty mph before slamming on her brakes. She will do this a few times each time she is behind me on the hill. Once she almost pushed my Mustang into a couple riding their bikes. The last time we had words, she claimed that I was doing burnouts in the neighborhood where I live. Needless to say, unless she loses her licence or kills herself first, she will kill someone with her Subaru…
“A man has to know his limitations.” or “so tell me, do ya feel lucky today punk?” Dirty Harry
Obviously someone missed both movies.
I don’t see the problem here, with a little help from the spectators that WRX should be able to finish the stage in this condition.
While on a flat bed…
Patience learned the hard way.
It was Snowtaled.