General Motors pickup trucks have been around for more than a century, and they're among the world's most reliable workhorses in the automotive industry. They've evolved from those frumpy-looking grubbers frequently seen in rural America to chrome Goliaths sharp enough to attract urban folks and win over the likes of LeBron James and UFC octagon terror Henry Cejudo. Despite the trucks' reliability, toughness, and endurance, however, floating is one attribute that's conspicuously absent on the GMC pickup checklist. And proof of the obvious was unwittingly revealed during a live news feed that started to go viral Wednesday on Twitter.
GMC Pickup Sank In Less Than A Minute
The action took place Thursday when TV news reporter Jakob Emerson of Springfield Illinois' ABC affiliate WICS was covering a controversial building project at Lake Springfield. With the cameras rolling, Emerson was oblivious to a white GMC pickup slowly rolling down the sloped boat launch into the water behind him. When it became obvious that the pickup was going into sink mode, someone in the control room informed Emerson in his earpiece what was going on. Emerson turned around, gasped, and uttered "Umm, get this on camera" before obligingly moving aside.
Fortunately, no one was hurt in the incident, which played out in less than a minute. But the owner likely saved himself a great deal of embarrassment by remaining anonymous, considering the clip made its way onto Twitter five days later and garnered more than 100,000 views in a matter of hours.
Homer Simpson Was Definitely Not The Driver
Not surprisingly, viewers weren't particularly kind to the ill-fated truck's owner. "For Sale: Nearly new truck. Freshly washed inside and out," wrote one respondent. Another one drew a parallel to the fictitious town of Springfield from the animated series The Simpsons and suggested that its witless protagonist Homer Simpson was behind the wheel.
Emerson didn't get off lightly. "That young man has impeccable journalistic instincts," noted one viewer commenting on how the incident literally took place behind him. "I see a bright career ahead." Several others reprimanded the reporter for instructing camera personnel to film the incident rather than ask if anyone was alright.
Was It A 2020 Sierra?
Judging by the mesh-like grille, the position of the headlights and fog lamps, and the shape of the bumper, the hapless pickup resembled a 2020 GMC Sierra. But in the end, it doesn't matter what model it was. Either way you look at it, that's a big enough write-off to make any upset owner suffer from that sinking feeling.
Source: ABC-WICS-TV