ROCKBRIDGE COUNTY, Va. – Toby Hong’s car is totaled after he says he was involved in a crash with a tractor-trailer on Interstate 81 Sunday night.
“It didn’t feel as bad on the inside as it looked on the outside. Obviously, the roof caved in and the airbags deployed and both front and rear windshields were blown out,” Hong said.
He said he went into the left lane to pass an 18-wheeler, the truck then went into the left lane too. When Hong went back to the right lane, the truck did too.
“The next thing I knew, he came back as well, I don’t know what was going on, I didn’t know if he was swerving, I didn’t know what was going on, so I had to come back, and then I lost control of the car and ended up under the tractor-trailer,” he said.
Hong and his wife Rana are in the process of moving from New Jersey to Abingdon. Luckily, she wasn’t in the car. But their dog, Heath, was.
Hong said he jumped from the back seat to the front seat during all the commotion.
“I have one hand on the dog, and I’m wedged under, and I’m trying to dislodge and I finally dislodged and pulled over on the side of the road.”
Heath also made it out of the accident unharmed.
When Hong pulled over, the driver of the truck didn’t stop to see if they were okay. Actually, they didn’t stop at all.
“Not that I’m trying to put any blame on anybody. It was an accident, but at the same time, I can’t understand why he didn’t stop.”
He called 911 immediately after the crash.
Virginia State Police tell 10 News that the incident is under investigation.
Hong says he’s just thankful that he and Heath were able to walk away from such a scary situation.