Real or Hoax? Shocking Car Accident Video Goes Viral
- Posted on April 5, 2011 at 8:58am by
Jonathon M. Seidl
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It’s shocking. You’ll probably watch it multiple times. And then you‘ll wonder if it’s real or not. We’re not sure.
There’s a new video whizzing around the internet taken from inside a car while traveling down the highway. All the sudden, out of nowhere a 2×4 comes crashing through the window. You hear screeching breaks, and your jaw hits the floor:
But is it real? A couple things make us question:
1. It’s hard to see where the 2×4 actually comes from. We slowed it down and can see it “comes” from the side of the road and is kicked up by the trailer in front. But even then it happens so fast. Almost too fast:
2. There’s no explanation in the video, and the Google searches we did turned up nothing, even though the description does say no one was hurt and mentions a Wendy Cobb.
3. No one screams, or makes any sort of noise. Not a peep. Don’t you think if a log slammed through your windshield you might have to apologize for what came out of your mouth, or would at least let out a gasp?
4. The quality of the video is great. It doesn’t look like a normal cell phone video. Could that point to it all being staged?
5. If you look close at the speedometer, it’s almost at zero:
Maybe Wendy just has really good brakes. But if you’re traveling down the highway, I think it’s highly unlikely you go from 60 to five in about three seconds.
6. We’ve seen incredible videos like this turn out to be part of marketing campaigns for movies. As we’ve reported before, there‘s even a company where that’s all they do.
So what do you think: real or hoax? Vote and then hammer it out in the comments.
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Comments (90)
emzieg
Posted on April 5, 2011 at 10:25amI think it’s real, I was involved a similar accident with a lawnmower blade. It must have fallen off the back of a lawn service vehicle, traveling at 75 mph; I was fortunate to see it skipping across deck before it bounced up and spinning end over end planted itself in the front of my car below the passenger side headlight. Who knows, if I had not taken evasive action it probably could have been much worse.
Report Post »Grilla
Posted on April 5, 2011 at 10:20amSingle axle trailers don’t make a tut,tut sound. One tire running over a board in the road would only make a tut.
Report Post »Scanner 3T
Posted on April 5, 2011 at 10:07amI don’t know why someone would be video taping while they are driving, but I have had this happen to me before. While following a minivan down hwy 61 in Baton Rouge the rear tire hit a 2×4 and it went through my window about 4 inches. we where only going 45 mph. I don’t know if this is real but it can happen. CHEERS
Report Post »ready_with_the_camping_food
Posted on April 5, 2011 at 10:07amI‘m going to say it’s real. It could be staged, but it wasn’t “faked.” The trailer bounces going over the board, the car was fairly close to the trailer. Having been a truck driver for years, I don‘t swerve in a bad situation as I’ve learned that allowing a sever reaction will cause a severe accident. As far as being quiet… well, It seems that my mouth actually stops working for a second when my mind goes into overdrive.
Report Post »hidden_lion
Posted on April 5, 2011 at 10:05amHow would you set that up? The 2×4 would not behave the same way twice when kicked up by the trailer. There would be no way to predict where on the car it would strike. Could have killed the driver.
Report Post »Rick11075
Posted on April 5, 2011 at 9:55amDefinitely a set up. Why would someone record a random drive down the road, without saying a word, unless they expected something to happen?
Report Post »teddrunk
Posted on April 5, 2011 at 9:54amI’d be making a lot of noise, BEFORE it happened. That blankety-blank driver pulling the trailer sitting in the left lane holding up traffic.
Report Post »jedi.kep
Posted on April 5, 2011 at 9:46amI voted hoax. That means it will turn out to be real.
Report Post »barstooltestpilot
Posted on April 5, 2011 at 9:41amReal. The 2X4 is laying beside the road and is kicked up by the trailer wheels. The dial that looks to be at a low speed is the tachometer which drops when the drivers foot is moved from the accelerator to the brake. I myself would be speechless, so no expletives until I had to get the window fixed and the insurance refused to pay.
Report Post »thegreatcarnac
Posted on April 5, 2011 at 9:39amHoax
Report Post »LindaB11
Posted on April 5, 2011 at 9:36amI think it’s real the 2×4 comes up from under the tire of trailer in front. Also, people do take video’s in their car, they could hve been on vacation. I have done that several times myself from a car.
Report Post »hochnessmonster
Posted on April 5, 2011 at 9:35amHoax. I agree that screams at all is odd. Also the guy just exhales and sounds annoyed. Also there’s just a little bit of tire noise and (like listed above) within a second he’s at zero mph.
Report Post »Ron Burgundy
Posted on April 5, 2011 at 9:31amLooks real to me … I had a wild turkey that was HUGE come through my window at 75 MPH and it happened really fast, I didn’t yell or scream. Why were they driving around recording with a cell phone though?
Report Post »heavyduty
Posted on April 5, 2011 at 9:29amDoes it really matter, this is just another reason why you don’t drive with your nose up the tailpipe of the vehicle in front of you. Besides why would anyone want to shoot video of driving down the road. I am sure that the guy in front of him was getting tired of him tailgating him. So he decided to back him off.
Report Post »13th Imam
Posted on April 5, 2011 at 9:42amUsually a brain dead liberal driving a trailered vehicle cruising in the LEFT lane.
Report Post »GadsdenGurl
Posted on April 5, 2011 at 9:29amMy question is why do you waste time on this crap when we are having a crisis here in NH with Soros?
Report Post »Hungry_i
Posted on April 5, 2011 at 9:48amPerhaps because it was a liberal plank?
Report Post »Liberty-lover
Posted on April 5, 2011 at 12:29pmHuh? Who forced you to waste time commenting on this crap?
It is worth spending time on because it is important to hone and improve our own critical thinking skills.
Report Post »thermonator
Posted on April 5, 2011 at 9:27amDon’t know…….. but why would someone do that on purpose? A foot to the left and the driver would be dead.
Report Post »TheAnswerIs42
Posted on April 5, 2011 at 9:27amI did have a piece of a tree limb come at me once from under a trailer. I cursed and slammed my brakes before impact (there was no swerving, since it was coming at the center of my vehicle). Thank God it did not hit my windshield, but this whole thing is suspicious. I have never been in an accident or near-accident where no one made any form of audible exclamation. That is one of the biggest things about this that stands out to me. Also, the quality of the video is suspicious. It looks like a cell phone on first look, but the fact is, I think it was filmed with a good quality camera, and then cut to cell-phone size later on. I watch a lot of videos from all over the world, and I have never seen a phone with quality this good.
Hoax.
Report Post »Justin.Long
Posted on April 5, 2011 at 9:23amreal, Ive seen stuff like that happen actually had that happen to me luckily I moved out the way
Report Post »WVBeagleMom
Posted on April 5, 2011 at 9:20amWhy would someone drive down the highway with camera running from the angle it is set? Just sayin’…
Report Post »NC
Posted on April 5, 2011 at 9:18amI’m voting hoax.
Who drives around with a video camera running (that’s hand-held) and no audio other than road noise.
NC (always the skeptic)
Report Post »Mrright33
Posted on April 5, 2011 at 12:24pmEXACTLY my knee jerk thought; “why is this camera on in the first place?”
Report Post »Untameable-kate
Posted on April 5, 2011 at 12:33pmI’m with you, the position of the camera shooting footage of nothing but normal highway traffic is very telling. Wouldn’t you at least say “WOW” or something if a 2×4 came at you at a high speed that close to your head?
Report Post »I have his birth certificate
Posted on April 5, 2011 at 9:15amThis looks real to me. It happens so fast you would be in shock and not have time to scream. The speedometer reads near zero after the tires squeal and the car has come to a stop? I am starting to wonder about reporters at the blaze.
You guys have really done your homework on this one!
The only thing I question about the video is why where they recording in the first place.
Report Post »jdhood
Posted on April 5, 2011 at 11:01amIt might be fake – it might be real. It’s hard to tell. Need more info…
How fast the car was travelling prior to impact (60? 40? 30?) Slower could easily account for the final speedo reading.
Presume the tow-vehicle saw the 2×4 late. The flat-bed’s position left it no good options. It’s hard to panic-brake with a trailer. By the trailer’s drifting over towards the left, I think the tow-vehicle decided to try and straddle the board, but just couldn’t fit it.
There was little to no reaction time, so I can understand the lack of jerking the wheel and no exclamation. I don’t tend to scream either when surprised; however, a few seconds later, I would likely have cussed a blue-streak and been in dire need of an underwear change.
Or, it could just be faked. I dunno. The video can be (easily & quite believably) explained either way.
Report Post »misterb1616
Posted on April 5, 2011 at 9:15amI’ve had a truck tire get shredded and come at my windshield, and I duck and swerved a little to get out of the way. Not real in my opinion. And also, is this really news worthy? Well, I did comment, so it must be of some interest.
Report Post »BetterDays
Posted on April 5, 2011 at 9:29amHad a seagull fly into my windshield under a overpass once, no damage but shock to my wife and I.
Report Post »watchmany2k
Posted on April 5, 2011 at 1:40pm@betterdays LOL, I saw a turkey fly into the grill of a dodge ram, maybe 30 MPH as the light had just changed, it was a burst of feathers just like the cartoons, made me laugh at the sight, but The guy in the truck was shaken up.
I say the vid is fake, although highly possible, I would have thought it would go thru the driver’s side.
Report Post »if real there should have been more tires screech
Time/distance to stop at 55MPH:
Approximately 240 feet including thinking distance of 60 feet
PavZilla
Posted on April 5, 2011 at 9:13amAyup. Must be the calm before the daily storm of insanity.
Report Post »ChiRho4Life
Posted on April 5, 2011 at 9:12amfake
Report Post »Liberty-lover
Posted on April 5, 2011 at 12:22pmI don’t have a problem with this being anonymous. If I was shooting video while driving I would try and keep that on the down-low rather than be charged with driving while distracted.
One possible reason the driver was shooting video is that they had noticed the driver who was pulling the trailer directly in front was driving badly, seemed impaired, was blocking the passing lane etc. Notice that the big rig in the right hand lane passes the trailer. That is a good indication the the trailer was hogging the passing lane.
The trailer in front seems to swerve to the left probably because the vehicle towing it swerved right and or left to avoid the 2X4.
The 2X4 does not fly backwards, it only flies up in the air and the car shooting the video moves into the 2X4 at highway speed.
Can’t say for sure but I lean towards legit. I also think the car shooting the video was tailgating the trailer.
Report Post »ozchambers
Posted on April 5, 2011 at 12:34pm@Liberty lover – see the road sign? The board is kicked up almost exactly at the road sign, yet the board strikes the windshield much sooner than it should. The following vehicle should be beside the sign at the very least when it strikes, but the sign is clearly ahead, and much farther ahead than it should be.
Report Post »BlazingInSC
Posted on April 5, 2011 at 3:59pm@OzChambers – Your understanding of physics is astounding… truly it is {sigh} – and I’m glad the woman came forward to speak to the truth of this video to put your lunacy in its place. What you have here is a board on the ground that went into motion backwards because the wheels (which were turning forward) rolled over top of it. Since the board was not secured to anything, it flew backward – and I would say it damn near reached the speed of the wheels when it was projected. Think about a baseball pitching machine. By your logic, the ball should not be ejected at nearly the speed of the spinning wheels, but rather should be tossed straight up – or in the opposite direction to the force being applied to it?!? Newton’s 2nd and 3rd laws of motion are very applicable here – and there is a reason why they are called physical laws – they have been proven time and again with scientific precision.
Report Post »TRONINTHEMORNING
Posted on April 5, 2011 at 9:07amSlow news day, I guess.
Report Post »mattwakulik
Posted on April 5, 2011 at 9:14amlooks real to me
Report Post »Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
Posted on April 5, 2011 at 10:07amHoax.
So anyone want to wonder if the Obama admin will blame the radical tea party?
Report Post »GODSAMERICA
Posted on April 5, 2011 at 10:12amI would have to say fake since the vehicle in front “just happens” to swerve over to the 2X4 right at the “perfect” moment when that vehicle had not been swerving at all before that.
Report Post »Stuck_in_CA
Posted on April 5, 2011 at 10:16am@BuckOfama: “Made me fudge my thong…..”
Hahahaha! Thanx, I really needed a chuckle! 8^)
Report Post »@leftfighter
Posted on April 5, 2011 at 10:16amHoax… Just so happens video is rolling when this happens, huh?
As if everyone in the drivers’ seat rolls video all the time for no reason at all.
Report Post »Psalm 144 verse 1
Posted on April 5, 2011 at 10:57amthey wern’t going 60ish, maybe 45ish, watch the lane dividers. Things like this do happen, too fast, it’s real, but most probably staged, why else would someone be tapeing the road in front of them while driving? They‘re just lucky it didn’t come in and hit them in the face, but that would have been one less idiot in the world!
Report Post »ozchambers
Posted on April 5, 2011 at 11:31amIt’s NOT REAL. It’s simple physics. If a vehicle runs over a 2×4 or any other object and it kicks up, it will cause said object to move FORWARD in the same direction as the vehicle that struck it. If you look at the painted lane dividers, you can see that the supposed board is kicked up and strikes the windshield before the vehicle in front has barely moved. It would be impossible for the board to strike the windshield of the following vehicle before the vehicle which is struck arrives at the point in the road where the board was kicked up. The only way the board could strike the following vehicle before the vehicle reaches the point where the board was initially run over would be if the board were propelled BACKWARDS, which is impossible in this scenario.
Nice work tho, whoever made the video.
Report Post »cemerius
Posted on April 5, 2011 at 11:52amReal!
Report Post »Thombob
Posted on April 5, 2011 at 12:07pmI say it is a hoax. I have seen lots of things on the freeways go flying when run over and this happens way to fast.
Report Post »MASTER YODA
Posted on April 5, 2011 at 12:14pmIt makes me wonder why, videoing boring traffic, were they. Fake video, the force tells me this is. Yes, hmmm.
Report Post »copper
Posted on April 5, 2011 at 12:44pmWhy would the driver be taking pictures of a truck passing on the right, then following a trailer…if it was a dashcam, why the change to the front view? And why was there no scream or gasp? Besides, if I saw that coming…I’d be swerving out of the way.
Report Post »Soldiers_Son
Posted on April 5, 2011 at 12:52pmDidn’t Myth Busters (I know, not always perfectly accurate) do a test with a surfboard going through a car windshield and found that it was busted? I would say that this probably fits into that category.
Also, the windshield didn’t look like it shattered correctly when the lumber hit it.
Finally, I could be wrong and this could be a real accident…
So, if it was a hoax, it was a good one. If it was not, then I am glad no one was hurt.
Report Post »Kalish
Posted on April 5, 2011 at 4:43pmFunny, it’s off of YouTube, copyright claim by Wendy I guess shes making a little money off it ? Free country, do as you wish
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