A Windsor man had the fright of his life Tuesday afternoon when a 22,500-kilogram coil of steel rolled off a tractor-trailer onto his SUV as the two vehicles were exiting E.C. Row Expressway.
R.J. Wilhelm, 34, was on his way to the gym around 3:45 p.m. when he left the eastbound expressway using the northbound Lauzon Parkway off-ramp.
Travelling in the left lane of the two-lane ramp, Wilhelm was driving alongside a 16-metre flatbed truck transporting the coil of cold rolled galvanized steel."I could see that the truck was starting to get wobbly," Wilhelm said.
Before he could react, the flatbed truck rolled over, toppling the enormous coil of steel onto Wilhelm's black GMC Jimmy.
"It hit my right shoulder, but I was probably in the only spot in the car that I could have survived," Wilhelm said.The coil crushed the entire passenger side of the SUV, and the rear driver's side seat was forced into a reclined position, with the headrest severed from the rest of the seat.
"If I was in any other position, I'd be dead," Wilhelm said. "No doubt about it."
"I'm sure anyone that sees this probably thinks they're taking somebody home in a body bag."
The driver of the tractor-trailer, an independent contractor for Movin' Freight Ltd., also walked away unscathed.
He refused to comment on the accident.
Wilhelm said he's counting his blessings after surviving the freak occurrence.
"I'm a little shaky, but physically I feel fine. I'm going to Hawaii next Sunday and my sunglasses are broken, so I guess I'm screwed there. But I guess if that's the worst thing that happened, I'm pretty lucky."
Police said they weren't sure if charges would be laid. The Ministry of Transportation arrived on the scene to investigate the cause of the accident.
The northbound exit to Lauzon Parkway from the E.C. Row Expressway was closed for several hours following the accident.
Photograph by: NICK BRANCACCIO, The Windsor Star
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