A trucker survived a potentially fatal situation in Texas recently after he says his rig was struck by lightning, leaving it stuck on cruise control at 70 mph.
The incident occurred on Monday, May 21st in Live Oak County, Texas.
According to Kiii TV, truck driver Mark Vela was traveling along Interstate 37 at 70 mph with the cruise control on through a thunderstorm when he says his rig was struck by lightning, frying his electronics and causing his semi truck to become stuck on cruise control, preventing him from coming to a stop or even slowing down.
As soon as he realized what was happening, Vela, a truck driver of nine years, called 911 and explained his situation, all while attempting to regain control of the runaway vehicle.
“I don’t want to take anyone else’s life,” Vela said to the dispatcher as he approached a dangerous curve in the road, still at the mercy of the out-of-control big rig.
“I understand you don’t want to take anybody out. You got to listen to me and remain calm, OK?” the dispatcher continued. Soon, Department of Public Safety trucks, as well as police cruisers were able to surround the tractor trailer, clearing traffic and reducing the risk of injury to others, but officials were still at a loss about how to halt the runaway semi truck.
That’s when Vela says his truck began climbing an incline in the roadway, slowing the truck down enough for him to turn it off, cutting off the power steering, before turning it back on and making a sharp turn, forcing the truck to jackknife and finally bringing it to a stop.
“I overcorrected, corrected the over correct, came back the other side, and finally I just slammed them on and jackknifed and stopped on 37, and that was that,” Vela said.
Luckily, no one, including Vela, was injured in the bizarre incident, but he says his training and experience on the job helped him survive the incident and keep from hurting others.
“Do not panic. Do not slam on your breaks because you have to remember you have cargo. Your vehicle does not stop like any other- plus the conditions,” he said of the incident.
As officials continue to investigate the accident, viewers have been left wondering why Vela couldn’t just shift the rig into neutral, and why he was using cruise control on wet roads in the first place.
“I guess someone is going to have to explain to me why in these situations shifting to neutral and coming to a stop doesn’t work? The motor will just over rev and let go….” commented one reader on KII News’ Facebook page.
“Why would anyone engage cruise control during a storm? And a tractor trailer at that?” wrote another.
Still, just as many readers felt that Vela had done all he could.
“The transmission wouldn’t shift out of gear or in to neutral. He tried. Lightening had struck truck and caused like an EMP,” explained one reader.
“I guess people forget it can lightning before it starts raining and that he may have had the cruise control on before it started raining,” commented another.
It is not yet clear if Vela, who suffers from PTSD and has part of his thigh removed due to a previous car accident, was issued any citations for the strange incident, but you can check out the news coverage of the whole situation below.
