This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed human. Liberty has never been just a word to we Americans. It has guided every one of our endeavors for the past 250 years, and now it takes form in a new way. The 2026 Semi-Quincentennial Coin and Metal Program from the United States Mint.
It celebrates the founding ideals that have long shaped our coinage. Available one year only, this historic collection features new coin designs, limited edition releases, and reissues. Shop new official coins at usmint.gov forward slash semi-q. That's usmint.gov/slash S-E-M-I-Q. This July 4th at Lowe's, get up to 45% off select major appliances.
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For details. I turned off news altogether. I hate to say it, but I don't trust much of anything. It's the rage bait. It feels like it's trying to divide people.
If we got clear facts, maybe we could calm down a little? NBC News brings you clear reporting. Let's meet at the facts. Let's move forward from there. NBC News reporting for America.
Uh This is Our American Stories, and we tell stories of all sorts here on this show. And this next one is a story about a bridge in Durham, North Carolina, that has captured the world's attention on YouTube. the 11 foot 8 inch high bridge. The 11-foot 8 bridge is a railroad trestle in Durham, North Carolina, that people keep running into with their big trucks, buses. and RVs.
Sometimes entire roofs of moving bands are removed. Peeled and rolling back like a tin can. Big rigs are stuck under the thing. Despite many large warning signs and flashing lights, warning drivers who dare to pass under its 11-foot eight clearance. People.
Just keep running into. One day, Jürgen Hinn started recording. The bridge is right outside my office. I started working in that building in 2002 and Every time a truck hits the bridge, We kinda notice because it's loud usually. And I saw over over the years I'm Yeah, every Every few weeks it walk out there and Check on the driver and and gonna survey the mayhem.
The trestle is over 100 years old, and at the time it was built, there were no standards for minimum clearance. On average, about once a month. truck runs into the damn thing. In 2008, I was setting up a home security system. And what's up?
you know, wireless cameras. And decided that it would be kind of interesting to set up one of those cameras at the office. to start filming The traffic And maybe catch one or two of these truck crashes to see what that actually looks like, I'd never actually seen it happen in real life. As it happened just a couple of weeks after I set up the camera, I caught the first. Crash.
And decided to put it on YouTube. It became pretty popular right away.
So Clearly there was an interest for that kind of footage, so I certainly kept recording. Yeah, there was not much overhead really. Mm-hmm. The North Carolina Railroad Company owns the trestle, but lifting it would cost millions of dollars, so they installed a crash beam. It reduces the impact of trucks hitting the trestle by slicing open the vehicle like a 46 Ford cutting through a DeLorean.
They call it the can opener. The road can be lowered because of sewer lines underneath. and there are warning signs for three blocks leading up to it. There's even a sensor that can detect a truck that won't fit. If your rig is too tall, it'll trigger a sequence of massive flashing lights that specifically tell the driver to exit.
But still. People keep hitting it. Jürgen has hundreds of videos of people crashing into this thing and millions of views on YouTube. He even collects parts of the crash debris. And sells it back to his fans.
I credit my wife for that idea. I mean, I just clean up a little bit when we go down there, kind of pick up the pieces, and notice that they're kind of cool looking. You know, sometimes they're bent in spirals or or other interesting shapes.
So I started keeping the more interesting looking pieces. In my office, But over the years Well, one box after another. I eventually hauled some of those boxes home. And my wife. Good.
honey Um, let's do something with these boxes though. Truck. Pieces. How about I try to sell them? And I'm like, sure, honey, you tried to sell them.
Well Yeah, actually he was actually onto something and um Took some nice pictures. names of PGS. and uh started our online store. Or we sell t-shirts and Crash or That was that moniker was also her idea to call it trash art. Lucrative is probably not the word that comes to mind.
I'm not about to quit my day job over this for sure. But I would call it a self-sustaining hobby. make enough money off the T-shirt sales and and crash art. And I have a Patreon page now too to help sort of sustain the whole thing. I breathe.
couple years or so get new cameras so I can capture Good good high quality footage.
Now for the record, the actual clearance height of the 11 foot 8 bridge is 11 foot 10.8. which technically gives it 2.8 inches more than advertised. And thanks for that story, Jesse. And people do everything in this country. They have all kinds of hobbies.
Some people bowl.
Some people play poker. This guy? Prashart. And as he said it, It's a self-sustaining hobby and boy that's better than most. Most of us have to pay for our hobbies.
By the way, you can go to YouTube and there's a video with somewhere over 7 million views. of the ultimate Montage of all the crashes that this gentleman has filmed over the years with his little homespun Rigged camera. that he just decided would capture all the crashes he'd never seen.
Now he gets to see it.
Now we all get to see it. And by the way, if you have quirky stories like this, passions, hobbies... Or know people who do. Send them our way. I'm trying to run down a guy who has a toaster museum.
I'd seen an article about it somewhere. And if anybody knows, the wisdom of the crowds is great. I'd seen or read this story about a guy who collected toasters from the beginning of time and has turned his home and several others into this ultimate toaster museum. And that's right, toaster, T-O-A-S-T-E-R. And he's walking through it and talking about every single kind of toaster.
The one piece of toast toaster, then the two piece of toast toaster, the ones that fold, the one that hold four. And he was just waxing poetic. And I can just imagine what his wife thinks of that toaster museum. Because it's tens of thousands of dollars in time. But if it keeps him off the streets, Well, you know, what's the problem?
The story of the 11 foot 8 inch bridge, actually, the 11 foot 10 inch bridge. Here On our American stories. This is Lee Habib, host of Our American Stories. Every day on this show, we tell stories of history, faith, business, love, loss, and your stories. Send us your stories, small or large, to our email, oas at ouramericanstories.com.
That's oas at ouramericanstories.com. We'd love to hear them and put them on the air. Our audience loves them too. Yeah. Liberty has never been just a word to we Americans.
It has guided every one of our endeavors for the past 250 years. And now it takes form in a new way. The 2026 Semi-Quincentennial Coin and Metal Program from the United States Mint. It celebrates the founding ideals that have long shaped our coinage. Available one year only, this historic collection features new coin designs, limited edition releases, and reissues.
Shop new official coins at usmint.gov forward slash semi-q. That's usmint.gov/slash S-E-M-I-Q. This July 4th, come celebrate at America's Block Party, hosted by America 250. America's Block Party is a camp miss 4th of July concert happening at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Experience music performances by major artists, patriotic tributes, and the kickoff to Giving Forth, helping to make July 4th the largest day of giving in American history.
It's more Than just fireworks. Join this landmark celebration and get your America's Block Party Tickets Now for $17.76 at America250.org/slash LA. It's America's 250th, but you deserve some presents too. Simon Malls, Mills, and Premium Outlets have can't-miss sales July 3rd to 5th. Join Simon Plus, our new rewards program, for free and get 2.5 times the points in addition to extra savings, cash back, and offers that also work at shopsimon.com.
Grab the fam, head to a Simon Center, and make it a day for the books. It's a celebration thing. Sign up today at SimonPlus.com. Rewards program terms apply. See SimonPlus.com for details.
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