Garbage Truck Sideswipes Trash Cans While Sliding Down Slick Hill

December ended with a blast of winter weather blanketing much of the US. Just before Christmas, Richland, Washington, received a dusting of snow that barely covered the concrete. Anyone who knows snow, though, knows just how slick and dangerous that can be, which is what one garbage truck discovered when it slid sideways down a residential street.

It looks like the garbage truck was already careening out of control when the video starts and things go downhill from there, literally. The truck’s back end swung out, colliding with garbage cans that unceremoniously dispensed their contents onto the ground.

The slide continued, crossing a driveway and jumping the curb, almost hitting a group of blowup Christmas decorations. It missed them, but a garbage can stuck to the truck’s back bumper collided with a tree, flattening it to the ground. The driver was then able to bring the big rig back under control, straightening it out and bringing it to a stop.

Thankfully, there were no other cars on the street at the time of the accident. When the truck was sideways, it filled the entire roadway and would have collided with anyone else on the street. It’s a good thing the driver stopped the slide before going any further down it, as the truck would have hit a red Chevrolet Camaro parked at the end of it.

The video ends with the truck stopped next to an upright garbage can, and someone getting out to collect it. It’s over before we see what happened to the strewn-about garbage. The collision had thrown it everywhere, and the truck carried one can to the next house down the street.

According to the video description, the city has been failing to plow this extremely steep hill, which has allegedly resulted in multiple accidents a day. A thin layer of snow can turn roads slick or hide patches of ice, making driving a white-knuckled experience that requires vigilance and care, but sometimes roads are just too slippery.