The moment a tow truck driver nearly caused a crash on the Garden State Parkway

It's something we see often in videos online. When a car realizes it's about to miss it's exit and makes a very poor decision.

Instead of simply going to the next exit to regroup, or stopping at the next rest area, they decide to do something incredibly stupid. They suddenly slow down and cut across multiple lanes to make their exit.

In many cases, this will lead to an accident. We often tend to think these incidences are one-offs and that most drivers know better. And for the most part, this is true.

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However, these moron drivers are out there. And the one that recently happened to me is just proof that these motorists do exist here in New Jersey.

What's more? This wasn't your standard car. It was a flat bed tow truck on the Garden State Parkway.

Where it happened

I was driving home from work last Tuesday and had just past the split for the local and express lanes on the Garden State Parkway.

It was the northbound side at the Asbury Park toll plaza. I was heading onto the local side.

After the split, I moved myself into the right lane. Traffic was on the lighter side at the time, which was good. I would say it was around 6 p.m. when I approached exit 105.

Almost multiple collisions

I wasn't getting off at 105, but this tow truck driver sure was. And, right as I'm about to pass the exit ramp, this tow truck driver just a little ahead of me decided to make a sharp turn out of the left lane and over to the offramp.

Now, how close did this tow truck driver cut it? It drove over the white slashes on the highway just before the offramp officially split from the main road.

There was one car in front of me that had to slam on their brakes, which also forced me to do the same.

The vehicles traveling in the center lane also did the same. Had any of these drivers been on their cell phones (which we all know is illegal while driving in New Jersey), a multivehicle collision would've almost absolutely happened.

And when I say this happened fast, I mean fast. Literally a blink of an eye situation for all the other drivers traveling north that made all the difference in preventing a serious accident.

A reckless tow truck driver

My guess is that after this driver went through the high speed toll and ended up in the left lane on the local side, they forgot that all trucks must exit the GSP at exit 105.

Unfortunately, they realized it too late and made a very stupid decision. Yes, trucks can't travel past exit 105, but in that situation it would've been better to pull over to the right safely and figure it out from there.

And if you fit the description of this driver, then here's a message for you. Either learn how to drive better and don't panic when you realize you've made a mistake, or give up your license. Full stop.

The above post reflects the thoughts and observations of New Jersey 101.5 weekend host & content contributor Mike Brant. Any opinions expressed are his own.