Minivan Trying to Overtake Light Truck Goes to Infinity and Beyond

We’re obviously exaggerating its performance. The stunt it pulled on one of Romania’s roads isn’t the giant leap for humanity everybody’s expecting, even though those inside the car might have felt differently.

The driver and passengers experienced a very sudden and strong vertical acceleration, not very different to the training exercises for astronauts. The vehicle then began to spin along its longitudinal axis, testing the occupants’ resistance even further. In the end, they were found unfit for a mission to Mars, so the shuttle was brought back to Earth. Not quite as it initially left it, though.

Don’t worry, we’re only joking because we know everybody inside the minivan was OK after what looks like a very spectacular accident. According to the guy who filmed this - and who can be seen stopping right after the accident - the people in the car “were OK, just a little messed up and scared.”

It’s not clear whether there was black ice on the road or not, but the temperatures were definitely around freezing point or below, and that’s enough to lose grip with the wrong kind of tires even on dry asphalt.

And it all seemed to go so nicely and smoothly at first. The driver waited patiently for a legal opportunity to overtake, using the indicator and all... He only made one mistake. He pulled that steering wheel as if a moose had just landed in front of his car.

The sudden maneuver made the tail of his car swerve, and his attempts to correct it only made it worse, even though he can’t be seen stamping on the brakes. But that doesn’t mean he didn’t lift off the accelerator, which can have the same devastating effect. After a short left-right tail waggle, he hits the mud bank on the side of the road and rockets towards the sky.