LOWNDES COUNTY, Ga. — The driver at the center of a viral crash video in south Georgia is speaking out for the first time.
Channel 2 Action News obtained the body camera video from the Lowndes County Sheriff’s Office from the May 24 crash. The wild video captured the moment a driver hit a tow truck’s flatbed and went flying through the air in south Georgia like a scene from “The Dukes of Hazzard.”
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It’s something that the driver Tanaijsha Bruton says she had no idea got everyone’s attention on social media.
“My family didn’t want to show me the video, but of course, I’m hardheaded and got on social media,” Bruton told WALB-TV in Albany. “One of my friends mentioned me in the video and said ‘oh this is you,’ and I was like this is me?! This my car?!”
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The crash happened off Ga 38/U.S. 84 as deputies were investigating another traffic incident. In the video, you can see a car coming down one of the lanes without slowing down.
The car then goes up the back of the tow truck and starts flipping through the air. According to the Georgia State Patrol report, Bruton’s car “vaulted” approximately 120 feet in the air.
Bruton told WALB-TV that she replays that moment in her head.
“Nobody expected me to make it. Not even my family. They didn’t expect me to make it at all,” she said.
The crash sent Bruton to the hospital in critical condition, where she says she had undergone several surgeries. A deputy also went to the hospital after being hit by debris from the crash.
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Georgia State Patrol Lt. Crystal Zion told ABC News that the crash stresses the importance of Georgia’s Move Over Law.
“It takes out the distractions of driving fast or phones or other people in the car. Basically, you know, when you see those lights to slow down, move over,” Zion said.
A GSP spokesperson confirmed that Bruton will be charged with the following: driving while unlicensed and use of seatbelts in passenger vehicles.
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