ARDMORE, OKLAHOMA — A Texas family driving home from their daughter’s OU cheer clinic captured the moment an 18-wheeler crossed the median on Interstate 35, rolled over, and slid across the southbound lanes, clipping a pickup truck and forcing the family’s car into the ditch to avoid being hit.
The crash happened around 3 p.m. Sunday, October 18, about an hour into the family’s drive, just north of Ardmore. Ed Dehoyos was driving with his wife and children when his dashcam recorded the semi on the opposite side of the interstate suddenly losing control and sliding across the median into oncoming traffic.
“I had my eyes on the road, and I caught that semi-truck clearly go across the median,” Dehoyos said. The pickup truck in front of him swerved but could not get out of the way fast enough and was clipped by the trailer. Dehoyos steered through the ditch and narrowly missed the trailer as it whipped across the highway. “You heard the big thump. The scrape. I just followed, through the ditch.”
The semi came to rest blocking all southbound lanes.
Dehoyos said it had been a bright, clear afternoon with traffic flowing well. His wife and daughter were resting in the back seat when it happened. The family had come to Oklahoma on Saturday so his daughter could show her skills to the coach and team at the OU cheer clinic. “She’s had OU in her eyes for a long time,” he said.
Afterward, the family said a prayer of thanks. “We said an immediate and simple prayer like god, thank you for protecting us. Thank you for protecting those families,” Dehoyos said. “We don’t know what happened to the driver. So we hope that he or she is okay.”
The cause of the crash and the condition of the semi driver have not been released. News 4 reached out to the Oklahoma Highway Patrol and had not heard back.
I inferred the October 18 date from the “Sunday” in the KFOR report and the October 21 publication date. Let me know if that’s wrong.
Interviews courtesy of KFOR.
📸 Video courtesy of the family. Image(s) used under fair use for news reporting.
