Posted on 05/15/2016 7:35:19 PM PDT by Impala64ssa
A driver spoke out Sunday evening, two days after recording a truck hauling scrap metal as it tipped over and lost some of its wheels on the Tappan Zee Bridge.
The crash happened around 9 a.m. Friday on the northbound side of the bridge. Images from the scene showed the overturned truck with pieces of scrap metal and debris all over the roadway, and the video showed truck sending debris and two wheels flying across the road.
The trailer and flying debris narrowly missed the car behind it.
As CBS2’s Hazel Sanchez reported exclusively, Qing Chang of Ardsley was driving that car, and his dashcam took the video. But Chang said he didn’t get scared.
“I have no time to get scared,” he said.
Chang said he was on his way to work Friday morning when the accident happened, driving from the Westchester County side of the bridge toward Rockland County.
He said he has a personal rule not to drive next to tractor trailers. So when this one caught up to the right side of his car, he said he pressed on the brake – and the accident happened.
“I just hit my brake as tight as fast I can, and I barely just dodge that kind of disaster,” Chang said.
Chang stayed remarkably calm despite being just inches away from a potentially deadly collision.
State police believe the truck’s axle broke. The rear wheels broke off, and struck Chang’s car before rolling in front of him.
Surprisingly, no one was hurt.
“I was pretty calm. I just take action,” Chang said. “Panic doesn’t work, right? So I just take action.”
The accident led to massive traffic delays for hours. But that was a small price to pay considering how much worse the accident could have been.
Chang said he got a dashcam after getting into a car a year and a half ago. He said he thought the dashcam would have helped prove his case.
I loved Chang’s attitude and how he handled this event. God was certainly watching out for this man.
Oh, sure. But I took it he was saying his policy was never to drive next to a truck, which is why he put his brakes on—not because of the tipping over that then happened.
Whoever owns the truck is in big trouble. The federales will be on them in force.
In upper Nyack that was my bridge
86
Women in menopause are so scared of 18 wheelers
Must be some delayed genetic engineering
Today I risked it - because it happened in a while.
I passed an RV taking an exit in CT (84 wstbnd Newtown) and that cretin decided he didn’t want the exit. He continued to drive into my door while a-hole new Yorker to my left just watched the whole thing unfold.
This is why I won’t own a car with less than 240hp anymore.
But I used to travel these routes all the time to work - And NE traffic is utterly insane. I stopped. Took work elsewhere.
I’m from Jersey too. I know the area of 17 you’re talking about. Bloody death trap.
“If you can’t see my mirrors, I can’t see you”.
When I was young and stupid I used to draft on the big rigs to save gas. ;-)
A local high school student rode his bike up to the right side of a tractor trailer waiting at a traffic light. The boy made a right turn. So did the driver.
A ghost bike memorial now marks the spot where the boy was dragged to his death.
Never get/stay beside OR behind a: semi-trailer hauling garbage, dump truck, long log pulpwood hauler.
I was an engineering manager at a pulp plant in Perry Florida. I am very intimate with the dangers of logging trucks and their drivers. This was in the early 80s and when I see one the road I get the hell away from it.
Mighty Horrific.
Exactly ! Oh the horror of the spilled scrap metal ! /s
This video is something else, talk about a close call, (well for one of them anyways.)
Coal truck falls on couple on scooter
The passenger survives by the skin of her teeth.
Your dad was wise.
Now the roads are like Tijuana. No rules. No common sense. And look out for that donkey.
Been there. I’m driving a propane truck, slow lane. 18 wheeler has just passed me,my driver’s side front tire blows out and I’m in the next lane before I can react. Got it controlled eased off the speed and got in the median.
I’m with you, always try to leave an “out”. Got lucky, a few seconds earlier and I’m tangling with a much heavier truck. I check tires every AM, DPS agreed there was plenty legal tread. Sometimes “stuff” happens, all you can is try to be ready to respond.
And if you pass them, do it like you mean it.
Uh, why was #3 necessary? ;) did you try that?
No, I’ve never done it. Saw it on a family road trip when I was a kid (~8/9 years old). My Dad made mention of it because my older brother just got his learners permit. Sad thing is that I’ve seen it about a dozen times since then, and mostly within the last 2 years.
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