Terrifying video shows truck leaving a trail of destruction after driver faints behind the wheel
MANNINGHAM, ADELAIDE: A horrifying video has emerged, showing an out of control truck veering off the road and demolishing a bus stop after the driver fainted behind the wheel. The incident took place just after 10 am on Tuesday, February 28, when the B-double truck was on Hamstead Road in Manningham, central Adelaide.
The dashcam footage showed the truck heading straight before it moved onto the nearby footpath, where it charged through a road sign and knocked over a light pole before speeding through an intersection and narrowly missing a hatchback waiting at a red light. The vehicle also wiped out a bus shelter, hedges and fences before stopping short of a home. Fortunately, no one was injured in the terrible episode, but a trail of destruction was left behind, according to the Daily Mail.
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'He completely lost control’
Motorist Paul Brackley, who captured the accident on his car’s dashcam, said that he was nearly hit by the vehicle. "He completely lost control, and he was coming into me so I put my foot on the accelerator to get away," he told Nine News, adding, “And then he started crashing into things, and then I immediately pulled up, and then I ran back and helped the guy out of the truck.”
It is believed that the truck driver, a 31-year-old man from New South Wales, had fainted behind the wheel, and was slumped over in the front seat when Brackley went to offer aid. "[The driver] had blood on his face but he looked ok, apart from that," Brackley said, adding, "The truck was making a hell of a noise when I got there and I was thinking, could it blow up? Or what could happen?"
After a terrifying near miss on Hampstead Road, the state's trucking union is urging a review of heavy freight routes for the safety of our suburbs.@KellyCHughes_ #9News pic.twitter.com/aSjSckEotL
— 9News Adelaide (@9NewsAdel) March 5, 2023
‘Miraculous no one was killed’
The truck driver was immediately rushed to a local hospital where he is said to be in stable condition. Brackley said it was a "miracle" nobody was killed as there were no pedestrians on the sidewalk or in anyone's front yards when the collision occurred. "Miraculous no one was killed, miraculous," Brackley said. Residents still have a sizeable amount of clean-up to do days after the crash, which damaged nearby gas and water lines.