So I've had my truck for just over a month now. I was heading in to work the other night which consists of about a 10 mile drive on the interstate. At the time I go in at night, traffic is usually pretty light but was a little heavier on this night. Like usual I set the cruise at the speed limit to get a little better mileage and just enjoy the ride in.
As I'm driving I barely pick up out of the corner of my eye some unusual movement in the headlights of the vehicles in the oncoming lane. By the time I focused in on the area, I noticed that I can barely see headlights in that area anymore and realize its from the giant dirt and debris cloud that got kicked up from the car that is now in the median. The car that is in the median hits the bottom, starts to roll, and keeps coming. I hit the brakes and head for the break down lane at the same time I turn the hazards on. The car rolls a couple more times, lands on its roof and hood as it slides down the road. It came to rest about 30 or 40 yards from where I stopped, dead center in the two lanes of traffic.
I ended up driving my truck down a steep embankment, through a ditch, then up a hill and parked it by a field about 30 yards off of the interstate. One person jumped out of the car and ran towards the ditch then sat there. I checked on him and he barely had any injuries. He did tell me that the driver was still in the car and that "he was drunk, but didn't mean to do anything wrong." By that time traffic was stopped and backed up. Myself and a couple of other guys went to check on the driver who was not so much in the vehicle. He was partially in it but mostly under it. It was a pretty gruesome scene that I'll just skip describing. He was still alive when they finally extracted him and loaded him up but it will definitely be a life changing incident for him.
I talked to some other guys who were close to the car that crashed. They said they estimated that he was doing over 100. He had also been passing vehicles in the breakdown lanes which was what he was doing when he lost control and went into the median. The distance from where the car went into the median to where it came to rest was somewhere from about 350 to 400 feet.
I guess it just goes to show a couple of things. The most obvious being how stupid drinking and driving is. Secondly, had I been in a hurry that night I probably wouldn't have had enough time to react and stop short and mostly likely would have been in a head on collision with the other car when it came out of the median.
As I'm driving I barely pick up out of the corner of my eye some unusual movement in the headlights of the vehicles in the oncoming lane. By the time I focused in on the area, I noticed that I can barely see headlights in that area anymore and realize its from the giant dirt and debris cloud that got kicked up from the car that is now in the median. The car that is in the median hits the bottom, starts to roll, and keeps coming. I hit the brakes and head for the break down lane at the same time I turn the hazards on. The car rolls a couple more times, lands on its roof and hood as it slides down the road. It came to rest about 30 or 40 yards from where I stopped, dead center in the two lanes of traffic.
I ended up driving my truck down a steep embankment, through a ditch, then up a hill and parked it by a field about 30 yards off of the interstate. One person jumped out of the car and ran towards the ditch then sat there. I checked on him and he barely had any injuries. He did tell me that the driver was still in the car and that "he was drunk, but didn't mean to do anything wrong." By that time traffic was stopped and backed up. Myself and a couple of other guys went to check on the driver who was not so much in the vehicle. He was partially in it but mostly under it. It was a pretty gruesome scene that I'll just skip describing. He was still alive when they finally extracted him and loaded him up but it will definitely be a life changing incident for him.
I talked to some other guys who were close to the car that crashed. They said they estimated that he was doing over 100. He had also been passing vehicles in the breakdown lanes which was what he was doing when he lost control and went into the median. The distance from where the car went into the median to where it came to rest was somewhere from about 350 to 400 feet.
I guess it just goes to show a couple of things. The most obvious being how stupid drinking and driving is. Secondly, had I been in a hurry that night I probably wouldn't have had enough time to react and stop short and mostly likely would have been in a head on collision with the other car when it came out of the median.
