A Queensland motorcyclist has spoken about how he was sure he'd die when a mattress fell off the back of a station wagon and into his path while he was travelling at 80km/h in a motorway tunnel.
Aaron Wood was following a Toyoto Prado towing a cage trailer - but a gust of wind picked up the mattress and flicked it out of the cage and into his path, giving him little time to react.
In CCTV footage from inside the tunnel, Mr Wood can be seen braking suddenly, which lifted him on to his front wheel because he was travelling at speed, before eventually coming to a stop on top of the mattress.
He said he's unsure how he avoided serious injury, and was so certain that he would be killed by the falling object that he had pulled the rubber grips off his handlebars.
"The mattress went under the bike and flipped me up onto my front wheel for about 50 metres," he told The Queensland Times.
"I was lucky that the bloke behind me had time to stop and help. When I stopped I realised I had torn the grips right off the handlebars - I thought I was a goner for sure."
He said in 20 years of riding a motorbike, he had never experienced anything like it.
"I was just very lucky to come out unscathed - apart from some cuts to my hands. The police are amazed that I'm alive."
Footage of the incident is being used in an attempt to identify the offender. Queensland Police say if Mr Wood was seriously injured or died as a result of the falling mattress, the person responsible could face a very serious charge.
Newshub.
