Horrible way to go
After a night out at Mrs Ramsden’s in Leeds back in the 60s, I followed a load of steel pipes down to the main road - the load was chained tightly in a 4,3,2,1 stack on the trailer but the headboard only reached up to the second layer.
There was a pedestrian crossing at the junction and even though he was slowing for the junction, a woman stepping on to the crossing made him brake sharply. He either heard or felt it go, because, although the top three pipes took the top off his cab and ended up digging a hole in the road, he had thrown himself sideways and was completely unhurt, as was the pedestrian. Lucky escape for all concerned.
I never did hear the outcome, but it caused a hell of a jam for a while.
Driver-Once-More:
Horrible way to go
I can think of worse. I doubt he’d have known much about it; maybe the sound of metal on metal for a split second and perhaps the realisation of what was coming, but not much after that.
I’m surprised it doesn’t happen more often given that almost all flat beds here have no head board at all.