Cattle truck almost ends up in river after driver swerves to avoid skidding car

A truck driver and the load of cattle that he was hauling almost ended up in the Snake River in Washington State this week.

The incident happened around 4:45 p.m. on Monday, February 4 in Pasco, Washington, according to a Facebook post from the Pasco Police Department.

Police say that a semi truck driver traveling on Highway 12 was hauling a load of cattle from Canada to a Tyson Foods processing plant in Wallula just as the driver of a white Chevy Cruze attempted to make a left turn across the icy median.

From the police report:

…the Cruze left the well-traveled highway lane to pull into the median intersection, where the driver immediately encountered more snow and started having trouble continuing. On dry pavement, he would have been long gone before the semi came by. Under the slick conditions, he found himself crawling out of the median area and into the path of the semi.

The Bovine Express had no way to stop in time after the Cruze emerged onto the eastbound lanes in front of it. The driver moved left into the median, went down the steep embankment, bounced hard over the railway at the bottom, and came to a stop almost literally hanging over the water.

Luckily, no serious injuries — human or cow — were reported.

On Tuesday morning, the cows continued their journey to the Tyson plant in another truck.

Pasco Police say that hit might “be awhile” before the truck and trailer are removed from the river’s edge.