Earlier this week, a friend sent me a video where over a dozen vehicles failed to negotiate a mystery turn somewhere within North America. The following day, someone else shared the turn with me and this continued until it seemed like everyone I knew had seen the footage of the impossible mystery turn.
Those with a taste for vehicular mayhem are likely aware of the Norfolk Southern–Gregson Street Overpass, perhaps better known as “ The Truck Killing Bridge.” Located in Durham, North Carolina, the site consists of a railroad bridge covered in warning signs that’s just short enough to cleave the tops off unsuspecting commercial vehicles, buses and RVs. The location became so infamous for absolutely wrecking trucks that a local office worker decided to set cameras up in 2008 to capture the magic, resulting in one of the best websites in history.
Things have slowed down since the North Carolina Railroad Company raised its height in 2019. However, the turn looks poised to pick up with the Norfolk Southern–Gregson Street Overpass left off.
Footage appears to be taken from a mostly stagnant location and includes over a dozen examples of vehicles failing to execute the turn successfully. But it’s really the way in which these accidents happen that are compelling. Crashes all seem to take place at relatively low speeds without anyone looking to have sustained any real injuries and there doesn’t seem to be any consistent reason for why this happens — beyond the obvious surplus of understeer.
Snow or sunshine, fast or slow, vehicles seem incapable of sticking to the road.
Your author’s assumption is that this is a decreasing-radius turn at the end of a long straight and drivers are simply unprepared for things to tighten up as they reach the apex. There also appears to be a camber change mid-corner which could be exacerbating the issue to hilarious effect. But it does seem like a pesky issue for the local community, assuming the footage was compiled within the last couple of years.
The related YouTube channel, entitled simply The Turn, has compilations of all the wrecks (some of which tragically lack sound). But it’s the short-format videos that shine the brightest because they offer instant gratification and have audio that really lets you hear the tires struggle before the inevitable smack of pressed metal merging with the brush. In a few instances, including one where a sidecar-equipped motorcycle glides off the road, you even get to hear a satisfying splash as it lands in the nearby bog.
Granted, it’s a little sadistic to take satisfaction in another’s suffering. But most of these accidents look like they could have been avoided with a little more care from the drivers and none of them seem to leave anyone seriously injured.
As of now, the owner of the channel seems keen to keep the location a secret. However, we can narrow things down based on the information we have. The turn is clearly located somewhere in North America and none of the vehicles appear to have front-mounted license plates. That limits its home to a handful of American states and a fair number of Canadian provinces. Someone with a particularly robust knowledge of regional plant life could presumably reduce the possible locations even further.
It’s likely a matter of time until the site is exposed, perhaps making it harder for the channel to continue doing its thing. In the interim, these clips are a great way to waste your lunch hour or as a vector for you to lecture your car-illiterate after they ask you why people keep crashing when you send them the links.
[Images: TheOGTurn/YouTube]
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