I Saw Two People Cheat Death by an Instant

By Mike Johnson

Driving a load of trolley tour passengers past the dam toward the reservoir yesterday, I was watching the roadway ahead as Margie started her story about the underwater town of Marquette. A car was in the first turnout we use to overlook the reservoir and turn back toward Cody. I watched as the car started to creep out toward the highway as a Sysco semi truck and trailer headed toward us in the other lane. The truck was moving right along because the speed limit was still 65 in that area.

I was expecting the car to stop and wait for the truck to pass. But he never stopped creeping forward and when the truck was directly in front of him, he actually accelerated right into the side of the moving semi. Apparently he never saw the truck.

The result was immediate. The front of the car exploded in debris, the hood flew over the roof, the car was deflected into a spin and the truck hit his brakes, dragging a pile of car parts under his vehicle. I was sure we had severe injuries or fatalities.

The wreck occured far enough in front of us to get out of the way of the semi as he traveled toward us dragging a pile of car parts with him.

We pulled into the turnout that the damaged car just vacated as every passenger on the trolley reached to turn on cell phones to call 911.

We saw movement in the car and then we parked close enough to see both occupants were sitting upright and conscious. A passenger on board said she was a nurse so we let her out to assist. The male driver seemed fine and the woman passenger seemed OK too, other than rubbing her head.

Other vehicles near the crash pulled over and one happened to be an off duty policeman, married to a nurse. He directed traffic, and she assisted the passengers too. After a couple minutes, the passengers were standing outside what was left of their car it became clear they would walk away without bad injuries. Their car, however, was destroyed.

Had that driver pulled out a milisecond sooner, he would have been broadsided by the truck and instantly killed. By hitting the side of the truck, he was deflected away and spun safely off the mountain side of the road.

The trolley tour resumed in a few minutes after we all took lots of deep breaths and our adrenaline ebbed. Thirty passengers left with an unexpectected story to tell, which fortunately had a happy ending.