Greatest tractor picture ever

First, my sincerest condolences to the family of deceased.

Average cage driver likes to cruse about 15 MPH over any posted speed.

Then, on impact, the slope of nose and hood compresses tires/suspension
to allow further penetration under truck body, missing most of ICC bumper,
allowing car to go under clear to the back seat area. Wow.

So, if the driver miraculously was able to flop over - flat on the seat,
in time, it's survivable.
I can't tell, but it looks like there's charring from fire on the Swift trailer.
**Edit, I zoomed the pix, and that's the hood I saw. I was wrong.**
[Anyone see other pix of this incident, with a story-line???]

(Possibly Zuck shut down his farcebook page cause it was "hurtful to feelings." Waaa.)

 

Most people tend to over-estimate the speed in a collision from heavy damage. You can easily total a car at 25 MPH.

Assuming the following:
1) The tandems were slid forward on the trailer before the crash.
2) It appears the car is offset to the right of the trailer, so that only the driver's side hit.
3) Most of the bulk of the car went under the trailer, taking the end of the ICC bumper with it.
4) The impact was mostly taken by the top of the left fender, A-pillar, and roof structure on the left side of the car. Not much structure there to absorb the energy of the crash, and that's a 4,000 LB plus car.

With all that, a differential speed of only 30-50 MPH would easily cause that kind of damage. Maybe even less as the portion of the car that impacted the trailer isn't structurally significant. Totally survivable if the driver was able to duck down. I've seen worse where a Ford Focus hit the back of a stopped semi trailer square on at about 60 MPH and went completely under the rear, knocking the tandems forward. Both occupants were able to crawl out of the remains of the car on their own and didn't have any significant injuries.

 

Southern Missouri. Honestly surprised they are towing him out. I-70 in Illinois had several just like him that they weren't pulling out.

 

That's not a company truck, which makes me think that it's probably a cash call... not a lot of tow companies will turn those down. Fast, easy money

 

I realize its not a company truck, I was surprised at the fact that Missouri didn't have a "tow ban" in effect like lots of states do when the weather is horrible like today.

 

Missouri actually recognizes towing and recovery vehicles as first responders... instituting a "tow ban" around those parts is akin to saying "the weather's too ####ty to dispatch cops to your hostage situation" or "the weather's too ####ty to dispatch fire and EMS to your heart attack"

 

You're right. I recall Ron Pratt on YouTube mentioning this , if you've ever watched him before...

 

I have. Man's videos are an amazing teaching tool for new tow truck drivers