Skip to Main Content
SUV crushed by steel coil on Windsor expressway
Windsor

SUV crushed by steel coil on Windsor expressway

A Windsor, Ont., man considers himself lucky to be alive after his SUV was crushed in an accident on the EC Row Expressway.
CBC News ·
A 22-tonne coil of steel fell from the back of a flatbed truck onto R.J. Wilhelm's SUV on an EC Row Expressway offramp Tuesday afternoon. ((Sean Henry/CBC))

A Windsor, Ont., man considers himself lucky to be alive after his SUV was crushed in an accident on the EC Row Expressway on Tuesday afternoon.

R.J. Wilhelm, 34, was on his way to the gym in his black GMC Jimmy SUV. As he exited the EC Row Expressway to head northbound on Lauzon Parkway, a flatbed truck driving next to him "started to get wobbly," he told CBC News.

The truck, which was carrying a 22-tonne coil of steel, tipped over "and the coil slid off and crushed my car," Wilhelm said.

Wilhelm, 34, said he was 'a little shaky' but otherwise 'physically fine' after the vehicle he'd been driving was crushed. ((Sean Henry/CBC))

The SUV was almost entirely flattened, compressed so hard that its tires were forced down into the dirt of the shoulder of the road.

Wilhelm walked away unscathed.

"Physically, I'm fine," he said at the scene of the accident. "A little shaky, but I'll count my blessings.

"I'm sure anyone that sees this will think they're probably taking somebody home in a body bag," he said at the scene of the accident. "To be walking away, I guess, I am lucky."

Ontario's Ministry of Transportation has launched an investigation to determine whether the coil was fastened properly to the truck.

The driver of the truck was also unharmed.

CBC's Journalistic Standards and Practices|About CBC News
Report Typo or Error|