By Steven Symes 
A scary situation unfolded recently in Fresno, California when a sixth-generation Chevy Camaro collided with a semi-truck. The American muscle car submarined, sliding partway under the trailer, crumping part of the windshield and roof. Amazingly, the driver survived.
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Apparently, the driver of the Camaro thought he had the right of way, hitting the semi-truck as it crossed in front of him. We don’t know who actually had the right of way, as that’s not mentioned in the report from local station KSEE, but that doesn’t matter in the short term.
Because in a situation like this, even if you have right of way, the semi-truck will initially win. Sure, you might win legally a year or five later, but in the interim there might be short term losses like serious injuries of even death.
Thankfully, in this situation the driver walked away from the crash. However, even though police said it was a “non-injury traffic collision” the driver of the Camaro was taken to the hospital after he complained about back pain.
Cars submarining under semi-trucks is a real concern. That’s the reason why Mansfield bars exist on the rear of commercial trucks and trailers. Those work, some of the time, but if a vehicle sits low enough they’re actually rendered essentially useless.
But there’s no such safety innovation for the side of trailers, at least that we’re aware of, which is how we have accidents like this one. We actually see cars stuck underneath trailers from the side fairly regularly.
These types of accidents can often be fatal, if no involve life-changing head and neck injuries. It’s a brutal reality and part of the reason why we personally are incredibly cautious around commercial trucks.
By the way, in this case police did cite the Camaro driver, saying he was at fault in the crash. He’s facing charges of leaving the scene of an accident and transportation of narcotics for sale.
Image via KSEE/KPGPE