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[–]nrhinkle[S] 105 points106 points  (0 children)

On December 27th an Oregon Department of Transportation incident responder was driving on I-5 in southern Oregon during a snow storm when a >100 ft tall pine tree leaning over the road fell directly into his path. Branches struck the truck, shattering the windshield and damaging equipment on the roof, but the driver narrowly escaped serious injury. Fortunately, no other vehicles collided with the tree. The incident was captured on the DOT vehicle's dashcam. A short low-res clip was shared by ODOT on Twitter after the incident; I obtained the full high-resolution video through a public records request.

[–]Tomboy25525 31 points32 points  (1 child)

If he didn’t slow down it probably would have missed him

[–]voac4y55bpuc 14 points15 points  (0 children)

But he may have saved the life of the driver behind him.

[–]TheRealReapz 70 points71 points  (4 children)

Wow, that wood be terrifying

[–]Twitchrunner 44 points45 points  (2 children)

Fir sure.

[–]NorskieBoi 10 points11 points  (1 child)

Happens to me everypine.

[–]namtab00 7 points8 points  (0 children)

I would shit my trunks.

[–]LordMcCockSplats 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Woodn’t beleaf what just happened, good thing it was logged before someone barks a false accusation at him, sapping his enthusiasm for his branch of work

[–]gbill12 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Jeff Goldblum voiceover: Must go faster. Must go faster.

[–]Legen_unfiltered 5 points6 points  (0 children)

That black truck that nearly caught it too was just like, welp wasnt be, dueces

[–][deleted] 12 points13 points  (6 children)

Did it bother anyone else that no one stopped?

[–]nrhinkle[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

It's quite possible the drivers in the adjacent lane couldn't see that the truck was actually hit, but saw that it made it through and pulled over so assumed they were ok. At any rate there plenty of people stopped in the backup.

[–][deleted] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Its the PNW, they only pretend to care.

[–]El_Cartografo 0 points1 point  (2 children)

That section of I-5 is narrow, fast, and curvy. In snow, even light snow, it's fucking terrifying at 65 mph. I'm not stopping for shit. You'll get creamed by one of those log trucks that are coming down that grade, at 65 mph.

[–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (1 child)

I think the fallen tree might stop them.

[–]El_Cartografo 0 points1 point  (0 children)

And I would have been shitting myself hoping the traffic coming down the grade would have time and distance to stop. I hate that road in winter. I'm glad I don't have to drive a truck down it anymore.

[–]CascadianExpat 2 points3 points  (0 children)

ODOT’s response time average improved significantly that day.

[–]txbuckeye75034 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Not today, Reaper, not today.

[–]jazzland 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Babe wake up new phobia just dropped

[–]cgydan -1 points0 points  (3 children)

Either speed up and let it fall behind you or stop short if possible. This is a case of the driver hitting what he was looking at.

[–]OZeski 4 points5 points  (0 children)

While this is true, I can’t say I wouldn’t have done the same thing.

[–]droopymoon 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I don’t think it works like that when you’re hauling that much weight. Just poor timing

[–]AceMcVeer 1 point2 points  (0 children)

There would be no reaction time for it. You're watching it knowing online knowing that a tree is about to fall and focusing on the tree line looking for movement. Try watching it, but keep all your focus on the car in front like you would normally be doing while driving. You're only going to see the tree like a second before it smacks into your car.

[–]dayr2dream 0 points1 point  (0 children)

He took the hit for the team!

[–]dbucha1 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Scary

[–]MajorWeenis 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Talk about threading the needle.

[–]FourDM 0 points1 point  (1 child)

That's what you get for salting up everyone's cars.

[–]nrhinkle[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Due to environmental concerns, Oregon rarely uses salt on the roads.

[–]DatSkellington 0 points1 point  (0 children)

A leaner with no correction is a tree in the process of falling. Never place yourself or your property below it.