lucasw's Journal: Wrecking the cars

A ways back someone told me their theory that the first few days of rain or snow has everyone driving like crap until they get accustomed.

Last weekend I saw about three separate accidents on a 100 mile stretch of highway (I-90 going west). I didn't actually witness the last two as they happened, but the first was about about three hundred feet ahead of me, someone abruptly veering left and off the road into the brush, finally flipping over after hitting a mound of earth. I think I was already slowing down and pulling over before it came to a stop. At first I was running, but stopped up a little short to reassess- is the thing going to explode? Is there someone horribly injured inside and unable to get out (and what am I supposed to do then)? What's the best way to get over that large bush to the driver's side door?

After a moment a young woman crawls out, cell phone in hand. A couple of trucks stopped (my passenger waved them down), but the authorities were already on the way. I had just bought a digital camera a couple of days before so I took a few pictures of the wreck- 0 1 2 3 4. The distance the car went before stopping was impressive, as was the trail left by the car through the brush- though my pictures don't show that too well.

So after filling out the statement forms the police give you in such situations we're on the road again, and of course a few miles up there are some guys about halfway in between the westbound and eastbound lanes, hood unhinged. Further on some old camper had partially disintegrated (we couldn't figure it out either), the rear upper corner having flown off and leaving glass and bits of wood and probably some odd items that were just lying in the back.

It wasn't particularly wet or icy, but after seeing all that I thought I'd just drive a little slower and not change lanes too often...