Mom Pulls Over to Help Semi Driver. Watches Truck Slam into Her SUV with 2-Yr-Old Inside
I don’t know a single person who’s seen Final Destination 2 — which came out nearly 20 years ago — who doesn’t get anxious around semi-trucks on the highway.
Whether you lived in a logging area or not, the imagery of a big commercial industry truck causing a horrific multi-fatality accident was burned into all of our brains.
Yet, regardless of technological advancements, these large trucks are still an unavoidable hazard of the road. Even with the rise of digital consumerism, goods still have to be transported — often in these large semi-trucks.
On the afternoon of Jan. 29, Jeff and Krysten Fogg were traveling U.S. 36, a rural highway that was once called a turnpike in Boulder County, Colorado. In front of them was a semi-truck that was losing speed.
When the semi-truck began to back up and inevitably jack-knifed, the couple knew something was wrong and pulled over. Jeff rushed to the truck at the same time another good Samaritan did and together they began emergency CPR on the incapacitated driver.
“You just do what you can do at that point,” Jeff told reporters who’d interviewed the couple at their home later. “You don’t really (worry) about making mistakes. You just do what you can to help.”
Meanwhile Krysten, who’d stayed in the car with their 2-year-old son, Hudson, dialed 911. While they were waiting for emergency responders, the dispatch operator instructed Krysten to approach the semi-truck and get an assessment of the victim.
Just as an ambulance arrived, a motorist in a pickup truck obliviously came barreling down the highway. They slammed into the ambulance which, in turn, rammed the Fogg’s SUV with Hudson still buckled up inside.
The horrified parents could do nothing but helplessly look on as their SUV was pushed at least 30 ft. and glass shattered all around their toddler.
“I was screaming,” Krysten recalled, “I was like, ‘my baby is in that car! my baby is in that car!’ and my husband took off running.”
While the SUV was totaled, Hudson was fine — just irritated that glass had gotten into his Pringles. To say his parents were relieved would be a vast understatement.
Jeff says that the entire ordeal has been a wake-up call and that he hopes other motorists will be more aware, particularly when approaching an accident.
“People just don’t pay attention anymore,” Jeff assessed.
“There were lights and sirens on both sides of the road and he decides to fly through them. Man, just slow down. Being late is not a big deal.”
Pulling off to the side of a highway is one of the scariest and most dangerous things to do when driving. You have to trust that ever-distracted, passing motorists notice your car is stationary and then successfully avoid it.
The scene of an accident, however, is even more dangerous as there is the initial hazard as well as the congestion of assisting (and rubbernecking) vehicles. Please, pay attention to all of the road, not just the direct line to your destination.
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