To Err is Human....Almost Done
I awoke at the crack of dawn and began my trek into St Louis. I could have chosen a shorter route, but my need for fuel had me sticking to the interstates.
Upon my final descent into St Louis, I witnessed an accident. Some people are just in too big of a hurry.
Riding south on I-55, the radio was full of chatter pertaining to a trailer tire w/rim laying in the southbound granny lane. Getting close to the obstruction, I moved left and watched as fourwheelers opted for flying around the right side in order to pass my slow moving obstruction. I then slowed even more, because I could tell they had no idea what was laying in the road in front of them, the distance was too great to discern it at this point. So, I slowed even further to allow them room to make a hasty left merge once they noticed it.
The two cars noticed it at almost the last second, literally jerking the steering wheel to avoid catastrophe. The Escalade, who became agitated when I slowed him down, decided to come around on my right also. He obviously had not noticed the actions of the other fourwheelers, because he had been behind me. I guess, my brake lights and four way flashers just angered him even more. So he darted to my right. I kept waiting for him to notice the wheel... and waited and waited......Oh crap, he never noticed it and centered it perfectly, lifting his entire vehicle at least a foot into the air before the sudden stop with a very large trailer tire wedged under his motor.
The truck behind him was a daycab, and also had not noticed the impending calamity, so he had to make a quick dive into onto the shoulder to keep from impacting the Escalade. The driver was not immediately injured, but I think he will be very sore for awhile. What is even worse, this tire did not fall off of a poorly maintained axle, it was actually strapped to the nose of a flatbed trailer and bounced out under the straps. That truck was sitting on the shoulder of the road with the driver on the phone while all of this happened. Seems he had been parked long enough to have removed the obstacle from the interstate, but he needed to make a few phone calls first..We had reports of the tire for 10 miles before we got to it... Hmm, can you saw LAWSUIT!!
So, after all that excitement had passed, can you guess my next delay...
I headed east on I-70, instead of the west bound 270, I was aiming for. Just a little distracted, folks, nothing to worry about. I have a great sense of direction...LOL
Well, I got my final 2 stops off on Thursday, and just as I started to breath a sigh of relief, the phone rang...
4 comments:
God! That driver will be getting a pink slip in his Christmas stocking on the 25th.
I got one story for you, Terry. I was drivng south on CA Hwy14 heading back to the yard with a empty dump truck and tag-a-long lowboy and coming north were three Freightliner COEs each pulling two 28' flatbed trailers. The first truck passes me and I noticed something crazy: the landing gear is almost all the way down except for a 3-inch gap between the pavement and the bottom of the landing gear shoes. I grabbed the CB and tell what I saw. No response. The other two drivers following 300 yards behind him didn't hear my pleas either. (No my CB was working perfectly) Three more northbound rigs pass and I tell them to relay the message and....nothing. If you've seen how empty flatbeds bounce up and down, especially on uneven paved roads, then imagine what the driver will see when he inspects his trailer at the next stop.
Witnessing accidents is the only thing I haven't had to watch yet. All of you have always been on my mind about that. I keep a CB in my car all the times, it has saved me hours of not sitting in traffic. Not all 4-wheelers are complete asses, some of us actually do pay attention to what is going on. For myself, I don't allow myself to get between two big rigs at any time. Too many stories of families in minivans found when the trucks are pulled apart. Glad everyone was on their toes behind the jerk in the Texas Cadi.
I'm well aware that many small towns would close up in days if it wasn't for all of you, even if it means being on the road on Christmas. My Thanks and Christmas wishes go out to all of you.
Today's Walk, gosh I hope you dont think that I have a low opinion of all car drivers. I am one too, on my days off. There are some very courteous and respectful car drivers, as well as some really horrible truck drivers..I find that I am terrified of trucks when I am in the car, not sure if that is because I have seen some of the bozos that drive them, or because I know first hand of the massive potential for destruction in 80k of Big Truck. But it is always easy to recognize those who are paying attention, and we appreciate those of you that do!! Hope you had a very Merry Christmas as well and a very Blessed New Year!!
I love the way you tell your story of events Terry, it seemed as though i was right there & could see it all happening.
Post a Comment