When President Donald Trump was traveling northbound on I-85 Friday en route to visit victims of the recent east Alabama tornadoes, his motorcade barely escaped what would have been a high-speed, head-on collision.
A video of an out-of-control vehicle veering off of I-85 South and slamming into the cable guard rail in the median went viral almost immediately last week, but now WSFA has confirmed just how close the incident was to being catastrophic.
The stunning moment was captured on video by Ike Scott, who was about 100 feet away off the interstate observing the motorcade pass.
“Oh my gosh! Did y’all see that?” Scott said on the video, talking to friends in the background.
“My audio probably said it all. I was stunned,” Scott told WSFA. “The vehicle was probably going to be airborne into the motorcade.”
WSFA said the Secret Service did make contact with the driver of the vehicle and the case is now closed. It is not clear why she crashed but the television station reported she was unharmed.
Tony Harris, public relations director for the Alabama Department of Transportation (ALDOT), said if not for the effectiveness of the cable railing, the crash had a high likelihood of being deadly.
“That cable barrier certainly prevented that vehicle from crossing over into the oncoming traffic which happened to be at that moment … on that day the presidential motorcade. They’re almost always fatal,” Harris advised.
“I was immediately thankful,” Scott added.
At the end of the day, highway construction can be costly for the state but is a worthwhile investment considering the lives saved alone, Harris noted. ALDOT administration explained that one mere mile of this type of cable guard railing costs approximately $250,000.
“We more than cut in half the fatalities on interstate highways from cross-median crashes [since the state started placing the cable guard railings in medians around 20 years ago],” Harris outlined.
A recent report named Alabama the second deadliest state per capita for traffic fatalities.
Because of the Rebuild Alabama Act signed into law this week, experts forecast more deadly crashes will be prevented by proper roadway safety features, just like this one. Significantly increased investment in highway expansion and maintenance will have similarly positive safety effects, too.
You can watch WSFA’s report here.
Sean Ross is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @sean_yhn
Don’t miss out! Subscribe today to have Alabama’s leading headlines delivered to your inbox.