Escape from Massachusetts

Monday morning I got in an accident in my truck. I was going around 40-45 on the turnpike during a snowstorm and hit an icy patch on a slight downgrade. I managed to slide from the right lane, nearly hit the right guardrail, cross over to the left guardrail, bounce off and come back across and hit the right guardrail. I felt pretty relieved as I didn't hit too hard and figured there was little damage.

That was when the Penske truck hit me.



It caved in the rear passenger door and quarter panel... knocked me sideways quite a way too. My lower back is hurting, as is my neck. But after all of that I still think I dodged a bullet.

As another driver was getting into the tow truck with me, I looked out of the windshield and noticed some debris in the road. Then I saw the plow trucks, and the semi, and the long strip of the left guardrail that was missing. Apparently, a semi came around the corner just as a couple plow trucks came out of an access road right behind us. They pulled out into the right lane that the truck was in. The semi driver tried to avoid them by going further right into the breakdown lane... where we were. He saw us and turned back to the left... and slammed into the left guardrail and the back of one of the plows. He hit it so hard that it destroyed his front axle and knocked one of his fuel tanks off. If he hadn't made that split-second decision, or if he'd jacknifed his trailer, I wouldn't be writing this right now.

I met him afterward. He admitted that he was driving 55... too fast for the conditions and road. The State Policeman threw the book at him and he's probably been fired from his job by now. On the one hand, I'm pissed that he was driving so fast, but it's tempered by the fact that it wasn't all his fault and his quick action probably saved my life.

If you're driving in the snow and rain, drive a little slower than what you "think" is safe.

And if your job doesn't close, or open later due to inclement weather, you tell them to go fuck themselves. Stay home and play with your kids.

Update

I went and picked up my truck with the tow truck today. The pictures don't seem to do it justice... or justify how sore I've been. But it's enough damage that it can't be fixed, at least not cheaply enough to make it worthwhile. And it would never be the same. I feel pretty good about the licking it took, though. Blythe's car seat was on that side and it didn't move a bit.





What a bitch.