Driver Survives Crash Launching Truck Off Upper Deck Of I-93
BOSTON (CBS) -- Highway cameras caught a dramatic crash involving a pickup truck that smashed into a light pole and flew off the upper deck of I-93 northbound landing on the deck below. The driver, 33-year-old Vannak Sao, survived.
State Police responded to the crash shortly before 6:30a.m. Sunday. Sao had struck the barrier dividing the main highway from the off ramp to Route 1.
Sao was pulled out of the car by Boston and Somerville firefighters and transported to Massachusetts General Hospital.
Sao was later charged with operating under the influence of alcohol. The state has taken Sao's license away, calling him an immediate threat.
Sao has been cited for speeding five times and has been at fault in two crashes.
WBZ talked to Sao's parents as they were leaving to visit him at Mass. General.
"I know the truck is totaled, but I'm glad he's still alive," Vanny Sao, the driver's father said. "He said he probably fall asleep or something and hit the snowbank or slip and slide. I'm not sure yet."
The barrier the truck smashed into is called an attenuator and is supposed to absorb some of the impact, but it was covered in snow and ice.
MassDOT says they salted the area after the accident, but would not say if they were doing anything to strengthen the barrier.
"It's so terrible, it's so terrible, my mind is blanking out," Sophia Sao, the driver's mother said.
The I-Team looked at a problem with a nearby stretch of highway two years ago, after a pair of crashes that sent trucks over the guardrail. MassDOT said at the time it would fix the barriers. On Monday, they said they are still working on it.