A Subaru WRX was split in two after a collision with a snowplow on a road covered in snow and ice. Miraculously, no one was injured in the incident. The car fishtailing on the snow-packed road must have saved the driver’s life, avoiding a head-on collision.
The dashboard camera of the snowplow captured the whole scene that took place on the road near Blue Mountain Lake in the Adirondacks Mountains. The video was uploaded on former Twitter/current X by the New York State Department of Transportation to highlight the importance of preventive driving, especially in winter conditions. The ten-second film looks like a scene from the Final Destination series.
The driver of the snowplow sees the Subaru WRX trying to overtake a truck coming from the opposite direction. It is obvious that the snowplow slows down to give the Subaru time to return to its own lane.
But the driver of the Subaru accelerates to pass the truck in time, and his car loses traction on the snow. The tail of the WRX goes loose, and instead of returning to its lane, the car slams into the oncoming vehicle.
There is no information if the truck driver managed to stop on time or hit the Subaru as well. What we do know, though, is that the car simply split in two following the impact with the snowplow.
Photos uploaded on X by Erik Ghiarduzzi show the front of the Subaru sliced off from behind the B-pillar. The roof remained in place up to the C-pillar and what seemed to be the rear curtain airbag hung down where the side rear window used to be.
The rear end of the vehicle, with the rear axle, wheels, trunk, and tailgate, shows up on a flatbed tow truck. It looks so bad that you can barely guess that it was once part of a car.
However, despite the Subaru WRX looking like a pile of crumpled metal and shattered glass, the driver walked away unharmed. Nobody sustained injuries in the crash. Most likely, the fact that the car started to fishtail during the overtaking maneuver must have saved his life. Otherwise, his Subaru would have gone head-first into the blade of the snowplow.
The video uploaded by NYSDOT and the photos posted by Erik Ghiraduzzi, as terrifying as they may seem, are a confirmation of how vital it is to leave our rally-driver-wannabe aspirations at home or keep them for the track, especially when road conditions are poor.
Arctic cold and heavy snowing have severely affected parts of the US. This week, we reported about the Tesla drivers having issues charging their cars in Chicago due to the subzero temperatures that affect range and charging times. Furthermore, not all Superchargers function normally in extreme cold.