The Chevrolet Silverado driver who last week hopped into a Chevrolet Corvette was detained by police. The Corvette’s driver recounts his side of the terrifying incident, which ultimately had a good ending in that he was unharmed.
Robert Widom posted on Facebook to tell what happened the night his Chevrolet Corvette was smashed by a pickup truck. He was out cruising in his orange supercar, with his wife in the passenger seat. It was supposed to be, as he says, “a peaceful evening drive with the top off – it was the perfect night.” Unfortunately, it turned out to be the exact opposite of “peaceful.”
The driver of the Chevrolet Silverado appears to have done it on purpose, according to the photographs and video that the Corvette driver provided showing the aftermath of the collision.
They came to a stop sign ahead of a crossroads a few blocks from their house in Thornton, Colorado, about ten miles north of Denver, at the intersection of 168th Avenue and Colorado Boulevard. In order to obtain a better look and confirm that it was legal to go, Robert drove past the sign. They were struck head-on when a truck abruptly arrived from the opposite side of the junction.
“At first, I didn’t think he was going to come at me. I thought he was going to make a left-hand turn. By the time that was processed in my mind, it was too late,” Robert tells of that night.
But the driver of the Silverado did not stop after the hit He kept on pressing the accelerator and climbed on top of the Corvette. He eventually stopped when witnesses intervened. “I yelled at them to turn off the truck since it was leaking antifreeze on us,” Robert recalls from that night.
Firefighters who arrived at the scene needed around 20 minutes to free the Robert and his wife from the car. It took that long because the wheels of the Silverado were blocking both doors and windows and had to be removed.
Robert was initially believed to be the only person in the vehicle. The following quote from him serves as the best possible endorsement for Chevrolet’s C8 Corvette: “We’re incredibly grateful for the C8’s engineering – it held up amazingly well.” The Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck weighs a minimum of 6,800 pounds (3,084 kilograms), depending on the engine and trim it is equipped with. Somehow, the supercar’s pillars were able to support this weight.
During the evening drive, the driver did not have the targa-style rooftop on, but stored in the trunk, which makes the strength of the Corvette pillars even more impressive. The Colorado police are still investigating the crash, but for the moment, the driver of the Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck remains under police custody.