CBS2 Exclusive: Driver Talks About Nearly Being Smashed By Truck On New Jersey Turnpike
PLAINSBORO TOWNSHIP, N.J. (CBSNewYork) -- Video showed just how treacherous the weather made the roads this holiday weekend, with black ice causing a semi-trailer truck to slip out of control and almost slam into another car on the New Jersey Turnpike.
CBS2's Weijia Jiang talked exclusively Monday night to the driver who had a brush with horror.
"I sure was right in the path of danger, absolutely," said Oleg Varavko, 27.
Varavko was trying to take a cellphone picture of the tractor trailers blocking the New Jersey Turnpike in front of him, when he heard something behind him.
That something was the sound of another big rig swerving out of control, heading straight for his car.
"It was either the end, and I was all hoping for, basically, divine intervention," he said. "And that's why I just murmured only two words Russian, you know, 'Gospodi pomilui, God have mercy.'"
The incident happened around 7:30 a.m. Sunday, when the roads were covered in black ice.
The tractor trailer turned just feet from Varavko's car, crossed a guard rail, and ended up on the other side of the highway.
A shaken Varavko continued shooting the scene.
"I really wanted to actually record his heroic act – what he was trying to do -- because he was trying to save us all," he said.
Varavko played a small role too, tapping on the gas to make more room for the tractor trailer. Incredibly, the trucks in front of him had moved too.
"Before, they were taking their sweet time to clear the road, and afterwards, they just disappeared," he said. "It was truly a miracle for all of us."
Right after the close call, Varavko went to church and gave thanks for his good fortune.
