SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY, Calif. – A dramatic and unusual video posted to Facebook this week shows a sedan being dragged for miles behind a large agricultural truck after the two vehicles collided.
The video, posted Wednesday by witness Brian Steimke, shows a maroon Nissan Maxima sending up smoke as it gets pulled along the 15 Freeway, up Cajon Pass in Southern California.
The California Highway Patrol’s Inland Division responded, saying the incident occurred at 3:20 p.m. Wednesday on the northbound 15 Freeway north of State Route 138, according to KTLA.
The two cars collided after a truck hauling 50,000 pounds of carrots was going up the pass and came upon an even slower-moving truck. The first truck moved left into the No. 4 lane to pass the slower truck when it struck a Nissan Maxima, according to CHP.
The Maxima became lodged under the truck, and the car and its 34-year-old driver, an Oak Hills man, were dragged along.
In the video, Steimke drives alongside the Nissan and the driver waves at him, apparently seeking help.
“Stop! He’s not stopping,” the Nissan driver cries.
The Nissan’s windshield is shattered, its hood crumpled and airbag deployed; the tires can be heard flapping against the pavement.
Horns honk in the background as the truck finally comes to a stop in lanes. Steimke stops too and runs back down the freeway to check out the scene. He asks the truck driver why he drove so far with the wrecked car attached.
“I didn’t know it,” the driver responds.
“What do you mean you didn’t know, dude? He’s on your truck,” Steimke exclaims. “You need to get out of your truck right now.”
At that point, Steimke’s camera gets closer to the rear of the truck, where the Nissan remains attached. Someone asks him to stop recording, and he does.
“The truck driver claimed not to have any idea the collision had occurred,” CHP stated in a news release.
The truck, which was labeled Mike Lowrie Transport of Dixon, outside Sacramento, was hauling two containers labeled Grimway Farms.
CHP said the 62-year-old Bakersfield man who was driving the truck didn’t show any signs of impairment nor were there any mechanical problems with the truck. The driver was allowed to leave.
The Nissan driver was not hospitalized.
In his Facebook post, Steimke said the truck dragged the car for “at least 4 miles,” but the CHP later estimated the distance to be about seven-tenths of a mile.
