Woman Survives ‘Fast and Furious’ Crash; Mustang Does Not

New Edge Mustang driver involuntarily performs a Fast and Furious stunt in her New Edge Mustang and lives to tell the tale.

Last February, I wrote a short piece about how someone bought the “Saleen” Mustang (a car that started life as a stock 2002 Ford Mustang GT) that was crushed under the wheels of a semi in the movie “2 Fast 2 Furious.” It turns out that that wasn’t just a CGI-heavy Hollywood stunt. One woman lived through an accident awfully (and I mean that in the strongest sense of the word) similar to it and reached out to me on Facebook Messenger to tell me her story.

On September 9, 2009, Tiffany Rose was cruising in her Mustang through Nebraska in the fast lane of I-80 E, on her way from California back home to Minnesota. She had plenty of company for the long drive: her hamster, Mum, guinea pig, Polly, cats, Pepper and Candie, and dog, Hooch. Aside from having a V6, Rose’s car (aka Dani) was close to the “2 Fast 2 Furious” Mustang: a red 2002 coupe with an automatic. Unfortunately, Dani would end up having a lot more in common with it than just basic characteristics.

“I was doing 70 with a semi on my right. When all of a sudden I heard a noise,” Rose told me. Accident investigators would later determine that the sidewall of Rose’s rear driver-side tire blew out. The violent loss of pressure sent Rose off course and under the big rig’s trailer. “The noise of the semi tires rubbing against the side of my car I will never forget.”

The truck driver soon realized he had a car wedged under his vehicle and jammed on his brakes, but that only made a terrible situation even more dangerous. The sudden drop in speed dislodged Rose’s car and shot it across a 30-foot-wide grass median and two lanes of traffic.

When the horizon in front of Rose finally stopped nightmarishly spinning, she was on the shoulder of I-80 W facing oncoming traffic. The freak collision had smashed a deep, hideous V into her front passenger-side fender and turned her entire windshield – aside from the massive, ragged hole gouged into it right in front of where Rose’s face was – into a hazy mess of spider-webbed glass. The smell of burning coolant hung in the air.

Rose was in such shock that she didn’t quite know what had happened to her. Whatever it was had jammed her door shut. Rose climbed out of the driver-side window and onto the road. Miraculously, she emerged with only minor injuries. “I remember having scrapes on my knuckles and forehead.” All of Rose’s animals were still in their carriers, unharmed. She called out to Hooch. Despite the devastation the semi inflicted on Rose’s car, it didn’t touch the back seat, where Hooch had ridden out the catastrophe. He exited through the window and joined Rose on the side of the road to wait for the police and paramedics to arrive. Dani’s ruinous ordeal wasn’t over yet, though. During the process of being loaded onto a flatbed tow truck, her entire front clip got ripped off.

Rose’s mother made the trip down from Minnesota to North Platte, Nebraska to bring her home. Dani went to the junkyard. She may be gone, but she’s definitely not forgotten. Rose commemorated Dani and the date of the accident with a large tattoo on the inside of her right forearm.

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Photos by Tiffany Rose

Derek Shiekhi

Derek Shiekhi's father raised him on cars. As a boy, Derek accompanied his dad as he bought classics such as post-WWII GM trucks and early Ford Mustang convertibles.

After loving cars for years and getting a bachelor's degree in Business Management, Derek decided to get an associate degree in journalism. His networking put him in contact with the editor of the Austin-American Statesman newspaper, who hired him to write freelance about automotive culture and events in Austin, Texas in 2013. One particular story led to him getting a certificate for learning the foundations of road racing.

While watching TV with his parents one fateful evening, he saw a commercial that changed his life. In it, Jeep touted the Wrangler as the Texas Auto Writers Association's "SUV of Texas." Derek knew he had to join the organization if he was going to advance as an automotive writer. He joined the Texas Auto Writers Association (TAWA) in 2014 and was fortunate to meet several nice people who connected him to the representatives of several automakers and the people who could give him access to press vehicles (the first one he ever got the keys to was a Lexus LX 570). He's now a regular at TAWA's two main events: the Texas Auto Roundup in the spring and the Texas Truck Rodeo in the fall.

Over the past several years, Derek has learned how to drive off-road in various four-wheel-drive SUVs (he even camped out for two nights in a Land Rover), and driven around various tracks in hot hatches, muscle cars, and exotics. Several of his pieces, including his article about the 2015 Ford F-150 being crowned TAWA's 2014 "Truck of Texas" and his review of the Alfa Romeo 4C Spider, have won awards in TAWA's annual Excellence in Craft Competition. Last year, his JK Forum profile of Wagonmaster, a business that restores Jeep Wagoneers, won prizes in TAWA’s signature writing contest and its pickup- and SUV-focused Texas Truck Invitational.

In addition to writing for a variety of Internet Brands sites, including JK Forum, H-D Forums, The Mustang Source, Mustang Forums, LS1Tech, HondaTech, Jaguar Forums, YotaTech, and Ford Truck Enthusiasts. Derek also started There Will Be Cars on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube.