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Icy winter tribulations!
Jan. 26th, 2004 03:37 pmSo I was up in Asheville this weekend visiting ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
vill. Things were good until Sunday morning, when we awoke to discover flakes of white drifting rapidly from the sky. They had already piled up substantially enough to make driveway navigation a hazard, so we cleared it with shovel, broom and much swearing. Then she headed off to work while I headed home.
I saw one driver go off the road in the first hour of my trip -- he had been driving (as is common in the South) too damn fast for the wintry conditions, and just floated sideways off the road. Didn't hit anything, but he wasn't going to get out of the depression his car had dug itself into anytime soon. I shook my head and kept going.
Once I hit I-85 southbound, things got even more fun. Ice and sleet were pattering down at high speed, but the roads weren't too treacherous as long as you left plenty of buffer space and didn't try to change lanes rapidly. I threaded my way through three lanes of traffic all moving at almost exactly the same speeds, swearing monotonously as I drove, trying to keep a decent space around me.
I was about 14 miles north of Anderson, SC when trouble pounced. I was in the left lane, trying to get around this idiot kid in a Dodge Avenger who kept speeding up and slowing down, and had caused massive traffic backups in the middle and right lanes. The left lane was clear for a good mile ahead, so I sped up a bit and started overtaking him. I got within fifty yards and suddenly the Avenger jerked to the left, into my lane, and started to fishtail wildly.
I swore and went for the brake pedal. I noted clinically that if he didn't manage to recover the car, there was no way I would be able to stop all the way in time. There was no escape route available, because the middle lane was still full of traffic which wouldn't let me over. I watched, annoyed, as the kid did exactly the wrong thing and stamped hard on the brake pedal. That was all she wrote. The car swapped ends, struck the divider, skidded some more, and stopped crossways in my lane. I gritted my teeth and dared to put a bit more pressure on the brakes, hoping I would somehow manage to transcend the laws of physics. 20 mph....10 mph.....could I do it?
*THUNK*
Nope. It wasn't much more than a tap, but I'd nosed into him despite my best efforts. I got out, surveyed the damage, made sure he wasn't hurt either, and suggested we get the hell off the highway before somebody else piled into us. He looked surprised at the very idea and followed me onto the shoulder, and he used his cell phone to call the cops. Who took more than an hour and a half to show up, because there were apparently a pile of other accidents that occurred further up the highway not long after ours. The cop took our info, then wrote him a ticket for driving too fast for conditions and told me that I wasn't remotely at fault. I couldn't keep from smirking at the kid's expression as the ticket was handed to him.
My car escaped relatively unscathed. The low-speed hit was purely a product of my reaction time and I am rather grateful for quick reflexes which allowed me to pile into him at only 10 mph instead of the 50 or so we were both traveling. There's some scratching and scarring on the front bumper but no dents, no broken lights, crumpling, leaks or heavy body damage. So I can wait for a while to get it fixed if the insurance companies can't get together on this. As with all the accidents I've been in, I'm not at fault and so I refuse to pay a dime to get this fixed. Will be making a follow-up with my company tomorrow morning after making an initial call today.
The cop I talked to yesterday (as well as the ones I spoke to this morning in a follow-up) said there had been at least ten wrecks in the space of two hours in a ten-mile stretch of 85. What the hell is the matter with people? Driving on icy or slick roads is NOT that tough. Leave lots of space, slow down, and above all AVOID jerking from lane to lane, yanking hard on the steering wheel, or stamping hard on the brakes or gas.
A little common sense goes a long way. What a pity, then, that so many people seem to possess none.
-- END OF LINE --
Currently playing: Rush -- A Farewell to Kings. Not my favorite album by them but it still has plenty of great tunes.
vill. Things were good until Sunday morning, when we awoke to discover flakes of white drifting rapidly from the sky. They had already piled up substantially enough to make driveway navigation a hazard, so we cleared it with shovel, broom and much swearing. Then she headed off to work while I headed home. I saw one driver go off the road in the first hour of my trip -- he had been driving (as is common in the South) too damn fast for the wintry conditions, and just floated sideways off the road. Didn't hit anything, but he wasn't going to get out of the depression his car had dug itself into anytime soon. I shook my head and kept going.
Once I hit I-85 southbound, things got even more fun. Ice and sleet were pattering down at high speed, but the roads weren't too treacherous as long as you left plenty of buffer space and didn't try to change lanes rapidly. I threaded my way through three lanes of traffic all moving at almost exactly the same speeds, swearing monotonously as I drove, trying to keep a decent space around me.
I was about 14 miles north of Anderson, SC when trouble pounced. I was in the left lane, trying to get around this idiot kid in a Dodge Avenger who kept speeding up and slowing down, and had caused massive traffic backups in the middle and right lanes. The left lane was clear for a good mile ahead, so I sped up a bit and started overtaking him. I got within fifty yards and suddenly the Avenger jerked to the left, into my lane, and started to fishtail wildly.
I swore and went for the brake pedal. I noted clinically that if he didn't manage to recover the car, there was no way I would be able to stop all the way in time. There was no escape route available, because the middle lane was still full of traffic which wouldn't let me over. I watched, annoyed, as the kid did exactly the wrong thing and stamped hard on the brake pedal. That was all she wrote. The car swapped ends, struck the divider, skidded some more, and stopped crossways in my lane. I gritted my teeth and dared to put a bit more pressure on the brakes, hoping I would somehow manage to transcend the laws of physics. 20 mph....10 mph.....could I do it?
*THUNK*
Nope. It wasn't much more than a tap, but I'd nosed into him despite my best efforts. I got out, surveyed the damage, made sure he wasn't hurt either, and suggested we get the hell off the highway before somebody else piled into us. He looked surprised at the very idea and followed me onto the shoulder, and he used his cell phone to call the cops. Who took more than an hour and a half to show up, because there were apparently a pile of other accidents that occurred further up the highway not long after ours. The cop took our info, then wrote him a ticket for driving too fast for conditions and told me that I wasn't remotely at fault. I couldn't keep from smirking at the kid's expression as the ticket was handed to him.
My car escaped relatively unscathed. The low-speed hit was purely a product of my reaction time and I am rather grateful for quick reflexes which allowed me to pile into him at only 10 mph instead of the 50 or so we were both traveling. There's some scratching and scarring on the front bumper but no dents, no broken lights, crumpling, leaks or heavy body damage. So I can wait for a while to get it fixed if the insurance companies can't get together on this. As with all the accidents I've been in, I'm not at fault and so I refuse to pay a dime to get this fixed. Will be making a follow-up with my company tomorrow morning after making an initial call today.
The cop I talked to yesterday (as well as the ones I spoke to this morning in a follow-up) said there had been at least ten wrecks in the space of two hours in a ten-mile stretch of 85. What the hell is the matter with people? Driving on icy or slick roads is NOT that tough. Leave lots of space, slow down, and above all AVOID jerking from lane to lane, yanking hard on the steering wheel, or stamping hard on the brakes or gas.
A little common sense goes a long way. What a pity, then, that so many people seem to possess none.
-- END OF LINE --
Currently playing: Rush -- A Farewell to Kings. Not my favorite album by them but it still has plenty of great tunes.