Video shows big rig making harrowing slide on slippery road

TRUCKEE, Calif. – A harrowing video of a big rig without rear brakes on a slippery highway has gone viral for the California Highway Patrol.

The video shot by Sgt. Eric Strecker was posted on the agency’s Facebook page Sunday and has gotten 24 million views so far.

Strecker says the big rig had jackknifed at the top of a snowy grade on Interstate 80 in Truckee, California near the Nevada state line.

He says the truck was blocking all lanes of traffic and it would take at least an hour for a tow truck. So the agency asked the driver to do a controlled slide about a mile downhill until the next exit.

An officer expresses his surprise at the end of the video, saying: “I cannot believe that worked.”