Commuting everyday on the roadways becomes routine. The same old traffic, scenery, idiots.
You never know when shit is gonna go sideways.
Yesterday , 11:00am on a Friday morning, this is the least of what you would be expecting
to happen...
A woman drove north in the southbound lanes of the Everett
Turnpike on Friday in Nashua, leading to a serious, multi-vehicle crash, police
said.
The woman, 83, of Merrimack, was taken to a hospital with
serious injuries after the crash, which occurred just before 11 a.m. near Exit
4, police said.
Police said the woman was driving a 2011 Chevrolet Malibu
when she collided head-on with a 2010 Toyota Tacoma pickup truck.
After the collision, one of the vehicles struck a Jeep
Wrangler, forcing it to roll over off the highway, police said. According to
investigators, two other sedans received more minor but disabling damage in the
crash.
The woman was seriously hurt, while drivers of three of the
other vehicles were transported to an out-of-state hospital for various
injuries, police said.
The crash sparked the closure of three lanes on the highway for about three hours and led to significant traffic backups. By the evening commute, traffic was flowing again.
It looks like the driver of the Tacoma may have tried to avoid the crash but too late. The driver and or
passengers it that jeep are damn lucky to be alive. One minute minding your own business then
life changes.
Had a car going the wrong way on I-90 at 70mph. My first clue was traffic ahead of me suddenly heading for the shoulder. At a closure rate of 140mph, Mr. Wrong arrived in a few seconds. His facial expression was ... unusual. At least he was staying in one lane when I very briefly saw him.
ReplyDeleteWe had one a few years ago that drove for miles on the wrong side of the interstate, had multiple law enforcement vehicles trying to catch her, but she had a head-on with another vehicle before it was over. She was killed, and the cause of her error was alcohol, and a convenient off-ramp near the place she was drinking.
ReplyDeleteWe live in a distracted world. I watch beyond for this very reason most minutes behind the wheel. Snap of a finger is all the time it takes for tragedy.
ReplyDeleteWait until you see a trailer tire bounding across the median coming at you. You can't stop, you'll get rear-ended. You have about two seconds to decide to accelerate or slow just a little. And no, I didn't use algebra for the calculations...
ReplyDeleteHad a spare tire fall off a semi just in front of me at highway speed. It rolled a LONG way before heading for the corn field. The fence didn't stand a chance at slowing the tire. CIB's experience is one I don't want.
DeleteHappens more than you think. A buddy of mine nearly died when a tractor wheel came crashing down on his hoopty last fall in Columbus.
DeleteOhio Guy
Vaxxident.
ReplyDeleteExactly.
DeleteThis is why you never drive in the left lane at night. That drunk coming at you with no headlights thinks that he/she is in their correct lane. I have had a Kansas drivers license for 52 years and have never had to take a driving test to show my ability to drive safely. Not even to get it at age 16. By age 60 an actual driving test to renew a license should be mandatory.
ReplyDeleteand then there are those who will take their driving test on their good days, when they're straightened out on their meds, when they're sober (and I don't mean only alcohol), when they're not looking at their cell phone, when they're not looking at a map laid out on the passenger seat, when they're wearing their glasses (corrective lenses), when they're...
DeletePuleez!!! remember also , a very high percentage of our current new "citizens" can't be bothered with such minutiae
Some of us drive as well at 80+ as we did at sixteen --- and in much the same way: G-d watches over drunks and fools
and the less government in our lives the better
I have found that the drivers that brag about how good a driver they are ae really the worse out there.
Deletetragic.i can tell most drivers look no further than their hood ornament when driving. i look WAY ahead and scan my mirrors every couple seconds. i see stuff coming, but i'm still surprised that the drivers in front of me don't see it until its too late, or nearly so. age doesn't play into that. i was a trooper for a short while. you'd be surprised how often wrong way driving occurs. that's why i look both ways even turning onto a one way road or crossing one. i could never understand how they didn't get the idea that they were going the wrong direction.
ReplyDeleteRecently had a pickup going the wrong way on an entrance ramp; I thought the guy ahead of me was either playing chicken with Mr. Wrong or astoundingly oblivious because he didn't take evasive action until it was almost too late. I was on the shoulder WAY before the almost-collision. I dunno why Mr. Wrong thunk he needed his own lane vs. the shoulder. Idiot.
DeleteIf everything seems to becoming at you, you’re in the wrong lane. Had that problem after I got back from living in the UK for 8+ years. Took about 6 months for keeping right to become habit again. Having an American spec car, left hand drive, over there didn’t help any; it seemed normal to be next to the grass when I was driving. Their road markings are much shorter and spaced closer together as well. You subconciously notice the “flash rate” of the stripes as you’re driving to gauge speed. Caught myself doing well over 100 a few times because that “just looked normal” to me. Couldn’t understand why everyone else was just poking along at 30…..
ReplyDeleteI have met several cars coming the wrong direction. The first one I was cresting a hill, and had about 2 seconds to say "oh crap". Fortunately he was in his right lane and I was in mine.
ReplyDeleteI just totalled a new pickup by being hit in the left lane by a drunk trying to do a 3 point turn on the interstate at 4:30 in the morning.
I was driving on I-25 through Albuquerque one night in April, 1978 when I realized a car was coming straight at me in my lane, the left lane. Fortunately, traffic was very, very sparse. I dodged onto the right lane and he went on by. A few moments later, I looked to my left across the median, and there was another asshole, going the same direction as me, on the other side. A little farther on was an entrance, and he went up the entrance.
ReplyDeleteFast-forward to 2014, my wife and I visited our niece who was in grad school in Albuquerque. She had absolutely nothing good to say about the town. She got her M.S. and got the hell out of there.
Seen this before but most obvious was in tuscaloosa in like 1982 on my way back to the north avenue trade school. i was gaining going east like mad. so i switched to the right lane. i slowed down as it was obvious they were coming my way... very old guy driving with a very old woman screaming at him. i made tracks.
ReplyDeleteI few years back I was driving my 03 4WD Tacoma with the full safari style ARB front bumper across a highway bridge over a lake in dark early morning rush hour traffic when all of the sudden there was a propane tank in mid air right in front of me. I was in a middle lane with traffic all around and nowhere to go. The tank bounced once in front of the truck and was defelected down by the bumper and got caught by the under engine skid plate. I was dragging it and sparks were going everywhere. Folks decided to give me some room and I pulled over to the left shoulder with nothing between me and a long drop into the lake but a 3 foot tall concrete barricade. I was thinking it was about to explode and I was going to bail and run straight down the shoulder but as I pulled off the tank dislodged and rolled out behind me. I sat there for a few minutes and collected my wits and then drove on in to work. Sure glad I wasn't driving the Camry that day.
ReplyDeleteJust want to say Thank You. Great stuff daily, I'd never see if it weren't for you, and I don't just mean FFF.
ReplyDeleteAt 83 I would vote for dementia and someone who's driver's license and car keys should have been taken away by family some time ago.
ReplyDeleteI was minding my own business, taking my kids to visit grandpa, in the front spot of a left hand turn lane, when an unconscious drunk driver blew through the red light, hit a poor lady's car crossing in front of him, then hit the SUV I was driving head on. Pushed our SUV back one full car length, and deployed our air bags. Fortunately, only relatively minor injuries. But omg scary.
ReplyDeleteThe drunk driver was in this late 60s. It was his second offense. Judge gave him 7 years, then suspended his sentence!! Said he was too old and sick for jail. Can you believe it?
I-84, eastbound just outside Hood River Oregon. Jersey barriers on both sides, speeds are 70. 9 at night, here comes a Ford Bronco in the left lane... we both kept to our respective "lanes" - this was in the 80's when cell phones were unobtanium so we couldn't call it in. I hope the drunk 'tard didn't kill anybody...
ReplyDelete