The two were going southbound with the wife driving when the tractor-trailer came onto the highway from I-40, troopers said. She pulled to the left to make room, but the air flow from the 18-wheeler drew the car back to the right and began to pull it under the trailer, they said.
The husband, in the passenger seat, suffered three broken ribs and a collapsed lung, police said, and was airlifted to WakeMed by a helicopter that landed on the highway. The wife had a cut on her head and was taken to WakeMed by ambulance, they said.
Police credited the trucker with preventing more serious harm by quickly slowing and pulling into the emergency lane so no other traffic would hit the car.
The couple's names were not release, but troopers said they were from Montreal.
The highway was closed for a time while rescue workers freed the couple.
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