A stunning viral video is making the rounds that would make The Bandit and The Snowman proud!
On April 24, the Lowndes County Sheriff’s Office was responding to a crash on Highway 84, somewhere in the southern part of the state of Georgia.
As officers were surveying the wreckage and responding in kind, the video shows a vehicle traveling at a high rate of speed on the other side of the median in the two lane. Apparently, the driver of the vehicle was distracted or simply didn’t see a tow truck with its ramp down sitting in the inside lane. What happened next was straight out of the movies.
The video begins with police standing on one side of highway’s center median next to a vehicle that appeared to have flipped over.
As a deputy walks toward that wreck, a car could be seen speeding toward a tow truck parked on the other side of the highway.
That car then launches itself off the tow truck’s lowered ramp and sails through the air before coming to a stop in an upright position.
The deputy could be seen sprinting toward the vehicle and is heard requesting EMS assistance.
To the deputies credit, he was all over the scene, and immediately ran to provide aid to the driver. The driver survived, miraculously, but is hospitalized with serious injuries.
This incident is emblematic of how distracted drivers are. Unless the driver intentionally wanted to fly off of the tow truck ramp, then the evidence and video clearly show they simply weren’t paying attention. The car did not appear to brake at all.
A police incident report said the car “vaulted” around 120 feet over the tow truck after launching off its ramp, the station added.
While landing, the vehicle hit another car that was traveling along the highway at the same time, causing it to be thrown a further 23 feet after impact, according to WBS-TV, citing the Georgia State Patrol incident report.
Georgia has a “move over” law, as do most states, that requires motorists to take to the shoulder if emergency vehicles are approaching. Tow trucks are included amongst “emergency” vehicles.
Deputies told Fox5 Atlanta that the accident is a good example of why the public should abide by Georgia’s Move Over Law, which says “motorists traveling in the lane adjacent to the shoulder must move over one lane when emergency and utility vehicles are stopped on the side of the highway and operating in an official capacity.”
“Vehicles included in the law include all first responders (law enforcement, fire, EMS), utility vehicles, DOT vehicles, HERO Units and wreckers tending to an accident. The law is meant to keep officers AND traffic violators safe from crashes with passing cars,” says a description of the law on the website of the Georgia Governor’s Office of Highway Safety.
Considering the accident was on the other side of the road, it is questionable whether the “move over” law applied here, but common sense should always apply. Drivers should keep their eyes on the road, maintain a safe speed, and slow down if there is an obvious emergence presence anywhere nearby.
Instead, this driver did his best impression of the Bandit, and is now in the hospital for their trouble. No word on whether the Snowman was involved or if bootleg Coors Light was seized by authorities.
Featured image screenshot from embedded YouTube Video
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