It’s no secret that we take the physicality of driving for granted. We get into 3500-pound metal boxes and launch them down ribbons of tar at a mile-a-minute without a thought. That’s why seeing a video like this is so alarming: it’s a reminder of what’s really going on, and the destructive potential of it all. Luckily, nobody was seriously hurt here.
What’s going on is that the driver of the Cadillac is suffering from some sort of medical episode, but exactly what happened is not clear.
A passing motorcyclist, Mo Turknett, shot this video with his helmet-cam as he was driving down a Florida highway. Turknett was understandably alarmed by the behavior of the driver, or, maybe more accurately, the lack of behavior, as the Cadillac just kept tearing ass down the road and shoulder while plowing through light posts, running into barriers, and through the loss of at least two tires.
It’s especially alarming to see how readily that tall street light just drops when the car runs into it; it barely slows the Caddy down.
Thankfully, the Cadillac comes to a stop on the shoulder before the car ran into another driver or, even worse, crossed the median into oncoming traffic. All told, the driver of the Cadillac is astoundingly lucky he didn’t end up dead or kill anyone else.
The driver is also remarkably lucky in that a whole group of helpful and capable people stopped to come to his aid. He seems upright and awake, but strangely unresponsive when Turknett opened the car door; even when stopped on the shoulder, the driver was still on the gas, the rim of the front wheel digging a hole in the ground.
According to ABC News, the driver was taken to a hospital, but refused treatment and walked away. He was later ticketed for reckless driving.
I think the Caddy pilot may want to see a doctor before getting back into a car, personally. Also, I am impressed with how well those mid-2000s Cadillacs hold up to being driven into things! Minimal roof damage from a falling street light? That’s the kind of shit you put in ads.