A B-double and a medium rigid truck crashed in wet conditions at about 11am, just east of the Turnbull Rd intersection near Mooroopna.
Mr Petty captured the moment on his dashcam and posted the footage to his business’s Facebook page, GV Hydronic Heating, where it has since been shared far and wide.
He said there was little warning of what was about to unfold.
“It happened really quickly ... only over a second or so,” he said.
“You've got no time to do anything. The trucks were loaded up and it was wet, they had no chance to stop.”
Mr Petty said the impact was deafening.
“It was a huge boom,” he said.
"I was driving at the time, so we actually saw it happen right in front of us. I smacked the dashcam so it would save the footage."
He pulled over to check on the drivers.
“I went to see if the driver was all right,” he said.
“Everyone had already called triple zero, and the cops showed up really quickly, they were there within a minute or two."
What he found was confronting.
“He was stuck. He was crushed ... his legs were crushed,” Mr Petty said of the trapped driver.
The 35-year-old Ardmona man was freed after about an hour and airlifted to a Melbourne hospital with serious, non-life-threatening injuries.
The other driver was taken to Goulburn Valley Health by road ambulance and was not seriously hurt.
A section of the Midland Highway was closed for hours afterwards, with traffic diverted via Excelsior Ave and Macisaac Rd.
The narrow margin between safety and tragedy is what stuck with Mr Petty.
“I suppose we’re actually pretty lucky,” he said.
“Things like that can happen to anyone.”
Anyone who witnessed the collision, or who has other dashcam or CCTV footage, is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or submit a report at crimestoppersvic.com.au.
