...in construction area on I-45
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Traffic on Interstate 45 was snarled for more than two hours beginning just after lunchtime on Friday after a bizarre accident left one man thankful to be alive and other drivers, first responders and officers scratching their heads.
Department of Public Safety Trooper Landon Blum said he was having lunch when he was dispatched to Interstate 45 South near River Plantation to what sounded like a major, and likely fatal, accident.
"It turned out to be a minor (accident)," Blum said.
Witnesses told Blum that Charles Buerger, of Montgomery, was driving his 2006 Suzuki motorcycle at a high rate of speed on Interstate 45 North when traffic reached the construction area on the south side of Conroe, where traffic is almost always "stop and go."
A woman in a pickup in front of Buerger slowed down suddenly. "She stopped and he didn't have time to react," Blum said. Buerger used his brakes, which he said locked up, ejecting him from the bike. Buerger was in the left lane when he left his bike and landed in the right lane, where he said he waved his arms hoping people would see him in time to stop. Amazingly, they did.
The bike slid under the pickup in front of it, bounced off the tires and went across the barricade that divides the freeway.
"He went off to the right and the bike went over the wall," Blum said. The bike flew directly into the path of a southbound 18-wheeler, whose driver tried unsuccessfully to avoid hitting what he thought might be a person. Chad Bishop of Houston was driving a tractor trailer loaded with only three pallets of soft drinks at the time. The truck's front left axle became stuck on top of the concrete barricade between the interstate's northbound and southbound lanes. The bike burst into flames, with Bishop still uncertain if its driver was on it.
"I'm glad the man's still alive," Bishop said. "It's a miracle he's still walking."
Indeed, Buerger ended up with only torn jeans and scratched knees. "Everybody walked away," Blum said, "except for the motorcycle, which was annihilated."
Buerger lost his motorcycle, billfold and all of his keys, but was very thankful to only have scratched knees. He was wearing a helmet, jacket and denim jeans. "I just crossed my fingers and hoped I was going to be okay," Buerger said. He declined medical attention.
Blum said he was surprised to see Buerger sitting up and talking when he arrived on what he expected to be a fatality scene. "I guess his New Year's blessing came early," Blum said. "The fact that he was able to live and not sustain a serious injury is amazing."
Nonetheless, Blum had a job to do and he did it, issuing Buerger a citation for following too close.
Jamie Nash can be reached at
[email protected]
Motorcyclist Miraculously Escapes Death...
