---
title: "Wind Turbine Blade Slices Into Semi-Truck In Crazy Autobahn Crash"
description: "Somehow everyone walked away from this massive accident."
date: "2017-05-18"
modified: "2017-05-18"
authors:
  - name: "Kyle Cheromcha"
    job_title: "Editor-in-Chief"
    link: "https://www.thedrive.com/authors/kyle-cheromcha"
url: "https://www.thedrive.com/news/10398/wind-turbine-slices-into-semi-truck-in-crazy-autobahn-crash"
categories:
  - "News"
  - "Trucks"
tags:
  - "Autobahn"
  - "Crash"
  - "Germany"
  - "Semi Truck"
  - "wind turbine"
---

# Wind Turbine Blade Slices Into Semi-Truck In Crazy Autobahn Crash

![](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/images-by-url-td/content/2017/05/truck-crash1.png>)
*\<em\>www.thedrive.com</em>*

It's [never a great idea](<https://www.thedrive.com/watch-this/9498/watch-this-oblivious-semi-truck-driver-drag-a-car-down-the-highway>) to spend a lot of time tailgating a semi-truck carrying a dangerous load. [That scene from *Final Destination 2*](<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3e4m69nx3w>) always crosses my mind whenever I find myself behind a trailer balancing some massive piece of machinery or giant stacks of metal. And now I'm adding wind turbine blades to the list, after a rear-end collision on the German autobahn earlier this week caused one to *literally* spear through the cab of another truck like a kebab, narrowly missing the driver.

[According to reports,](<https://www.thelocal.de/20170516/wind-turbine-smashes-onto-autobahn-blocking-traffic-for-hours>) the truck carrying the blade and an escort vehicle were traveling on Autobahn 33 outside the city of Bielefeld when they were both clipped from behind by the blue truck. The impact dislodged the blade, sending it straight through the front of the second truck, crushing the cab and showering the oncoming lanes of traffic with huge chunks of metal. Fortunately, no other drivers were injured.

Miraculously, the 61-year-old driver of the skewered truck also escaped with only minor injuries—it's fortunate that German vehicles are left-hand drive—but the entire highway had to be shut down for hours. Of course, then authorities had to figure out how to clean up the mess. Video from the aftermath shows they brought in two giant cranes to lift the remains of the blade, and actually managed to restart the damaged truck and drive it out of the way.

https://youtube.com/embed/6FWQh8N-A2A

While this is undoubtedly a freak accident, the potential is always there. Despite its relatively small size, Germany is the [world's third largest producer](<https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/05/16/giant-wind-turbine-blade-falls-across-autobahn-truck-crash-germany/>) of wind power behind China and the United States. Wind turbines are a common sight around the country, as are the trucks carrying the parts—if you're cruising the autobahn, just watch out for the tip of the spear.

## Author
Overseeing an expert staff of writers and editors from his lair in Los Angeles, Kyle shapes The Drive’s singular approach to covering the automotive industry and car culture. He’s been with the site as a writer since 2017, taking over as editor in 2019. On a daily basis, Kyle is responsible for directing The Drive's editorial news and car review content strategies, setting special coverage priorities, managing complex reporting projects, and ensuring what you read on the page meets our high internal standards for quality and trustworthiness. He is also the executive producer of The Drive's YouTube channel, which was relaunched in February 2024 to great acclaim and has accumulated over 14M new views in its first year back on the scene. He hosts a biweekly series on the channel where he breaks down fascinating and complicated stories from the automotive world.

### Author social links  
[Bluesky](<https://bsky.app/profile/kylecheromcha.bsky.social>)  
[Instagram](<https://www.instagram.com/kylecheromcha>)  
[LinkedIn](<https://www.linkedin.com/in/kyle-cheromcha-1550248a/>)