Steve Moakler is opening up about the van accident, which almost took his life. The singer-songwriter reveals the accident, which occurred in April, could have ended up much, much worse.
“Everything’s back to normal, with the exception of the Sprinter,” Moakler tells The Boot of his Mercedes Sprinter van, which was totaled in the crash. “I don’t have the Sprinter anymore.”
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Moakler was driving in the rain and tried to stop after getting to the top of a hill and seeing brake lights, but was unable to get the vehicle under control.
“I slammed the brakes, but with the rain and the weight of the trailer pushing us, I just didn’t have enough time to stop. We slid with our brakes locked up for about three football fields, so I saw it coming for a good five seconds,” Moakler recounts. “There were two tractor trailers that I had the option of hitting, and there was just nowhere I could turn, so I hit the back of one of them. It was scary.”
Fortunately, the drivers of the trucks that he hit quickly came to his aid when he was unable to get out of his vehicle.
“Those guys came to the rescue, man,” Moakler adds. “Those truck drivers came and pulled me out from behind the steering wheel, because I was stuck in there.”
Ironically, Moakler’s single, “Born Ready,” which says, “Red white and blue just rolling down the blacktop / Bulldogs barking till the can’t do backs off / Raised on the road just two hands holding on steady / Born ready, born ready,” was written for truck drivers, which makes his rescue that much more meaningful.
“I had a chance to tell them about the song and thank them for what they do,” Moakler says. “It was a really powerful moment and just affirmed all the feelings I already had in the song.”
The Pennsylvania native still has scars and injuries to remind him of the accident, and how close he came to losing his life.
“This is from the accident, and it’s going to be a scar,” he says of a burn on his arm. “It’s cool to have this as a little reminder. I see this, and it definitely reminds me that my life could have stopped, and it didn’t. And I’m excited to see what comes next.”
Still, in spite of his physical pain, Moakler remains thankful that he was able to walk away from the crash.
“The accident was just a rush of emotions,” says Moakler. “First it was guilt, and then it was anger, and then it was the feeling that I should give up. Mind you, this is all within the span of, like, one minute.
“But when the first responders came, and I saw them looking at me amazed that I was walking around, suddenly I felt amazed, and grateful,” adds Moakler. “I’m still alive, and I almost wasn’t.”
Still, nothing – not even a crash or the loss of his vehicle – could keep Moakler from doing what he loves to do most: play for his fans.
“My favorite part is that moment with the fans when we get swept away in a song together,” Moakler tells PopCulture.com. “You never quite know which [song] it’s going to be, but there’s the moment. There are moments, and that’s what we strive for with performance. For us, as the band, to get swept away in it, forget where we are or forget what’s on our mind, and you kind of watch that happen to a crowd. That is an incredible feeling and a very unifying feeling.”
Moakler’s album, Born Ready, will be released on June 15, and is available for purchase on his website.
