Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Horror video shows truck drag car down highway as driver waves for help

‘This driver should have noticed the vehicle or at least the loss of power from the rig – Blind spots are called blind spots for a reason’

Gustaf Kilander
Washington, DC
Friday 03 December 2021 18:31 GMT
Comments
A driver waved for help while being dragged along the highway by a truck
A driver waved for help while being dragged along the highway by a truck (Screenshot / Grzesiek Misiek / YouTube)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

A teenage driver was captured on video waving for help as she was being dragged along by a truck after her sedan became stuck beneath it on a highway in Chicago.

Illinois State Police said Laylisha Gardner, 19, was driving north on Interstate 294 in Cook County at around 11.40am on Tuesday when she tried to change lanes and her car got wedged between the semi-truck and the roadway, DailyMail.com reported.

The truck pulling along the black 2005 Honda Accord prompted clouds of dust to rise from the road.

Nobody was injured in the incident, in which trucker Mohamed Yousif, 52, was initially unaware that he was pulling along another vehicle, but eventually pulled over to the side of the road.

The front of Ms Gardner’s Honda was smashed in, including the windshield, and its tires were screeching against the street. Ms Gardner can be seen waving to other drivers in the video, trying to get their attention to alert them of her ordeal and get the trucker to stop.

During the subsequent police investigation, two lanes were closed for around 15 minutes on the Tri-State Tollway.

The footage was posted by Grzesiek Misiek, who wrote on Facebook that he “pulled him over on i294.. I was like wtf happened here... then I saw the car and that person still inside”.

A commenter who said he was a trucker, Robert Laumen, wrote: “This driver should have noticed the vehicle or at least the loss of power from the rig. Blind spots are called blind spots for a reason.”

“People should be flagging the driver and pointing to the problem if they are not aware,” he added. “Just when you think you’ve seen it all there is always something out there to top it!”

According to the National Safety Council, more than 5,000 large trucks were involved in deadly crashes in 2019, which is about 10 per cent of all vehicles involved in fatal collisions.

Large trucks are defined by the organisation as a truck that weighs more than 10,000 pounds (4536 kilos), excluding buses and RVs.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in