Next time you think you’re having a bad day, consider this very unsettling video.
A cell phone camera captured an oncoming train smashing into a 18-wheeler that was stuck on the train tracks.
This was not your typical fender-bender, to say the least.
The crash involving the stranded truck on a railroad crossing that was demolished on impact occurred yesterday at about 5 pm on Highway 99, near Fresno, Calif.
As depicted in the video embedded below, (Note: NSFW for language) taken by a motorist some distance behind the truck, the train repeatedly sounded its horn as it approached. Visible in the footage is the trucker getting out of the cab and waving his arms to try to flag down the train conductor before impact. Apparently, the train was moving too fast to slow down in time to avoid the collision, and, unfortunately, had no option other than to barrel into the truck.
The mile-long Union Pacific train appeared to be carrying military tanks or armored personnel carriers reportedly destined for Fort Irwin, Calif., in the Mojave Desert. After it smashed into the truck, the 18-wheeler’s cargo of trail mix boxes scattered all over the area.
Fortunately, no one was injured in the train-truck crash, according to a California Highway Patrol officer. Although the truck was obviously a total loss, the train and its military cargo avoided any damage and continued on the way to their destination a few hours later.
One witness to the crash offered this assessment of what was going through his head: “Is the truck going to fly into traffic in front of us? Is the train going to derail? Is there going to be an explosion? The truck was right in front of us, maybe another five or ten seconds we would have been in this truck lane, we would have been destroyed, we would have been killed in this.”
[image credit: ScottDavis ]