A Massachusetts man is grateful to be alive after he was involved in a terrifying crash in Uxbridge on Tuesday.
“Thank God,” Ricki Artruc said. “He doesn’t want me yet.”
Artruc was driving his Ford Taurus when his car struck a piece of concrete, went airborne and landed underneath a moving tractor-trailer.
Emergency crews responded to the reported crash on the northbound on-ramp of Route 146 where they found Artuc's white sedan wedged underneath a tractor-trailer.
Uxbridge officials say they are amazed Artruc only suffered minor injuries.
Back home Tuesday night, Artruc spoke exclusively to NBC10 Boston.
“You try to pay attention to what’s going on but there’s one little thing can catch you,” the Southbridge resident said of the piece of concrete that was in the middle of Route 146.
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Artruc says he had no time to react as he slammed into the concrete, causing him to go aireborne.
“When I hit it, it just launched the car in the air,” the 61-year-old said. “I did a Dukes of Hazzard.”
As he landed back on the road, the steering and the brakes gave out, and the vehicle swerved into a grassy area and slid underneath the truck as it merged onto the roadway. Police say the sedan was dragged a good distance on the on-ramp.
“I could see I was coming to the tractor trailer and I knew I couldn’t stop,” Artruc said. “I had no brakes, nothing, I knew I was going to hit it.”
In a split second, Artruc says he found himself under the trailer, with most of his car torn apart.
“The only way out was through the passenger window,” Artruc said. “All that was going through my head is this thing catching on fire and me burning.”
He crawled out of the smashed out window unassisted and made it to the road and to safety.
“I’m just glad to be alive,” Artruc said, adding that he is very thankful for all the good Samaritans who stopped to help and the first responders, as well.
He’s urging drivers do a better job of securing their loads.
