I feel like I’ve seen videos similar to this before, where a person is improbably hanging on the back of a swiftly-moving vehicle, and the most notable quality these people seem to have is a sort of preternatural calmness. Just look at this dude here, spotted hanging on the back of a box truck doing about 70 MPH on Interstate 25 outside of Aurora, Colorado: he looks completely calm. And yet there he is, holding on to the back of a truck driving at highway speeds.
A video of the sedate daredevil was shot by David Meyer and posted to Facebook, which is where the incident really started to get attention. Here, watch for yourself—it’s oddly uneventful:
The truck-rider was standing on the Mansfield bar of the truck, and holding onto the handles of the doors. Really, it’s a pretty stable place to hold onto, if you have to hold onto the back of a truck. I’m about certain I’ve stood in that exact same spot, holding basically those same parts, before myself.
Of course, I didn’t stay on while the truck got on the highway, which I think is the key difference here.
The problem isn’t that the perch is necessarily so precarious; it’s more that it’s completely unforgiving. Any lurch or unexpected turn or shift can easily result in loss of grip or footing, and then everything gets terrible, fast.
Worse, it makes things dangerous for everyone around him, who will attempt to swerve or brake to avoid running over the idiot who fell off the truck driving on the highway.
It’s weird that I find myself explaining this, but it just kind of happened.
Unsurprisingly, the people who make sure highways stay safe agree.
As Colorado State Patrol trooper Josh Lewis told Fox 31 in Denver,
“Not only is the person hanging on the back in an unsafe position, but anybody around them is now unsafe. Certainly, if that person falls off, they want to do what’s right and avoid them. But now they’ve put themselves in danger.”
So, yeah, terrible idea.
How does this happen, exactly? Was the guy helping out and there was confusion from the driver, and he just ended up stuck on the back, unable to hop off? Was this a deliberate stow-away? A dare? A dream?
No one seems to know the full story yet, but I think the take-away is clear enough. Don’t do this. Even if it looks like you’re staying calm.
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