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Safety first. You’ve heard your parents and employers say it for years. Well, this Louisiana crash might be the perfect example of why that statement rings so true. A semi-truck making a wide turn clipped a bucket truck, sending a worker flying. And, if not for his protective gear and harness, things could’ve been a lot worse. 

A turning semi-truck drove straight through an airborne electrical worker’s bucket, leaving him dangling over the street

A viral video with nearly 100,000 likes captured what is almost certainly the scariest moment in one electrical worker’s life. The worker was suspended around 15 feet off the ground using a bucket truck. Bucket trucks use large powered arms with an open-top working compartment to allow a person to safely work at potentially dangerous heights. Well, safely didn’t really apply here.

As the worker focused on the stoplight array overhead, a full-size white semi-truck approached, making a wide turn as it did. Then, disaster. The huge truck clips the bucket and effortlessly drives straight through it. The worker, still aboard, gets tossed sideways as the bucket turns. Fortunately, he was wearing a safety harness at the time of the oversight.

He drops a few feet along with the bucket, arms outstretched toward the ground. The harness saved the man from a head-first ride down to the pavement. As quickly as it happened, the semi-truck pulled forward in the right lane and appeared to stop. A fellow worker on the ground runs up to the man to check on him before darting back to the bucket truck’s controls. ABC News reported that the man, while shaken, scuffed, and bruised, was ok after the crash. 

As horrifying as it seemed in the moment, the worker is lucky things weren’t worse. The base of the bucket was suspended at around 12 or 13 feet above the ground. As it stands, the average semi-truck sits at around 13.5 feet. Troublingly, if the bucket had been any lower, the worker may have taken more of the impact of the turning semi. 

You can check out the news video of the crazy crash below!

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Staff Writer

Erik Sherman

Erik Sherman is a MotorBiscuit Staff Writer, an admitted petrolhead, a survivor of classic cars, and an avid motorcyclist. Erik covers Tesla daily, including the Model Y and Cybertruck. Erik also covers Toyota, often discussing the Tundra, Tacoma, RAV4, 4Runner, and Camry. Erik also has extensive experience with military and emergency vehicles, ranging from ambulances and fire engines to MRAPs and Humvees. Erik is a United States Marine Corps combat veteran, a former water survival specialist, and a former firefighter/EMT. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree from the University of Texas at Austin.