Some drivers feel they’ve struck gold when they get stuck behind a plow on a wintry day, getting a clear path in exchange for a little salt spray on the hood. But when 70-year-old John Archuleta of Walsenburg, Colo., was literally stuck to the rear end of a Colorado Department of Transportation plow truck Monday morning, he didn’t feel so lucky.
During a whiteout, Archuleta rear-ended the plow with his 1999 Chrysler Cirrus, according to KUSA-TV Channel 9. Nobody was hurt in the crash. Archuleta said while driving along in the snowy conditions before the crash, all he could see in front of him was a large shadow.
“I realized, ‘Hey, it’s this snowplow.’ Then I just kind of slid under him,” he told Channel 9. “There wasn’t a loud noise or nothing. Then I’m hooked, see. Right away I turned on the blinkers, started honking my horn. Obviously, the man couldn’t hear me – he’s a big truck. He didn’t even feel it when I hit him, kept going down the highway.”
The plow hauled Archuleta’s car, whose hood was stuck beneath the truck’s salting mechanism, for about a half mile before another motorist flagged the plow’s driver down.
Archuleta’s car suffered heavy front-end damage, and the plow suffered minor rear-end damage. Archuleta was cited by police for careless driving and told Channel 9 he “felt bad” for interrupting the plow driver’s workday.
Click HERE to see a photo of the wreck.
