This is probably the scariest crash footage you have ever seen.
The truck driver managed to avoid hitting the motorist. Instead, he crashed through the median to the other side.
In the description of the YouTube video uploaded on Jan. 19 and titled, “NJ Turnpike I-95 Crash – Black Ice – Trailer flip,” the motorist, with the YouTube name “MrLegolize,” described his near-death traffic experience.
He was stuck in traffic on the highway due to two trucks blocking the road. And while waiting for the trucks to move, he began taking pictures. Suddenly, a “noise came from behind.” He turned around to see an out-of-control semi-trailer that hit a patch of black ice skidding toward his car, missing him narrowly and running over the median.
The truck appears to collide with a car on the other side of the road.
“I was blocked by two trucks on southbound I-95 at exit 9 in NJ (New Brunswick exit). I only wanted to take a picture while I was (waiting) for them to clear up… and then I heard (a) noise from behind… I was barely missed.”
Incredibly, the motorist continued filming even while his life was in danger.
The video shows the motorist filming while the truck hurtled toward his car, tires screeching. But the truck just managed to avoid the car. After the truck had stopped on the other side of the road, the motorist called 911.
While many viewers have wondered whether anyone, including the truck driver, was hurt in the collision, the motorist appears to say no one was hurt.
He wrote: “After that I came to the truck and the rest of the cars to verify they were alright. After arrival of NJ State Trooper and his dismissal confirming that he does not require my presence, I left the scene.”
CBS New York later identified the motorist as Oleg Varavko, aged 27.
The video was posted to Reddit where it received hundreds of comments. Many viewers were amazed at the apparent calmness of the man at death’s door.
A Reddit user, Ulyssanov, commented: “Seriously! That guy had like the calmest, clearest voice and delivery ever and everything was very informative and to the point. Great video quality and cutting too. Somehow this was very satisfying.”
Some were convinced he took the right decision remaining inside the car. One Reddit user commented: “He did the right thing… NOT getting out of his vehicle… It would have been certain death if he exited his vehicle in the middle of that madness.”
But the accident happened so suddenly and too quickly for the motorist to react. As a Reddit user SkidMark_Wahlberg noted, “His fight or flight response seems to be broken.”
The motorist told CBS New York, “It was either the end, and I was all hoping for, basically, divine intervention. And that’s why I just murmured only two words Russian, you know, ‘Gospodi pomilui, God have mercy.'”
He said he went to church to give thanks for the narrow escape.
Bad weather conditions causing black ice has caused several accidents over the weekend in the northeast region, including a crash pile-up that forced the closure of both I-76 and I-95 near Philadelphia, according to The Huffington Post.
