Too close for comfort

   / Too close for comfort #1  

PhilNH5

Platinum Member
Joined
Jan 29, 2002
Messages
785
Location
SE NH
Tractor
Kubota B3000HSDCC
Yesterday we got snow and ice and sleet. I left work a little early. I commute from NH to Mass on Rte 93. It is 3 lanes wide and at peak hours you can use the brakdown lane making it 4 lanes.

I was in the fast lane. Traffic to my right was going roughly 30 35 MPH. I was doing a little over 40. The roads were slushy but seemed okay. I kept my eyes on the mirrors so I could pull over if anyone wanted to go faster than 40mph - I hate left lane louies and don't want to be one myself.

On my right a Dodge Durango came flying up. Dang I thought, he's going to plow into the car to my right and slightly ahead of me. No sooner did I think that when in a classic Boston move he threw on his left blinker at the same time as he pulled into my line. Unfortunately I was in my lane. Having no choice I hit the breaks. Wrong move. I instantly started to skid. I have a Dogde Dakota Quad cab and was in 4x4 mode.

I left the road onto the median strip and was headed for the guardrail. I overcompensated and returned to the road but skidded all the way over to the slow lane guardrail. I just missed the Ford Taurus that was in front of the Durango when this all started. I don't know how many others I missed.

I still was not in control of the truck. I was trying to brake, steer and downshift all at once. I'm sure I did alot of the wrong things at the wrong time but there was no time to think! I rocketed back towards the fast lane my car doing a 180 turn in the process. I just miss the Tuarus for a second time. But now I am skidding backwards down rte 93 in the fast lane. So I am travelling north in the fast lane while my car is facing south. I watch the Taurus wrestle his car to a stop. We both slide to a stop and our front bumpers are less than a foot apart.

My heart was pounding - mostly cause I was so ticked at the Durango that caused this. I did not have time to be afraid. But now I see lots of traffic bearing down on us. I wave and nod at the Tuarus who smiles back, make a U-turn so my truck is pointed in the right direction and head home.

By time I get home I am pretty unsettled. I give my wife and kid a big hug and tell them what happened. My wife says her prayers on my behalf must be working. I thank her. Don't know how I skidded twice across 4 lanes of traffic, did a 180 and am still here to relay the story but I am grateful to be doing so.

Spent the night sledding with my wife and daughter.

Phil
 
   / Too close for comfort #2  
Glad you are OK!

As I was told when I was just a kid..."Keep it in 2 wheel drive until you get stuck, then use 4 wheel drive to get out of where you shouldn't have been in the first place!"
 
   / Too close for comfort #3  
Phil - I know how you feel. We had snow just before Christmas. The roads were ok but the bridges were glaze ice and had not been sanded yet. A Dodge Dually in right in front of me on a long bridge suddenly started going right. Then left, then right, then completely sideways right in front of me. Cars behind and to the side of me. Nothing for me to do but ease down on the brakes and try to hold a straight line. The was no chance of stopping. My only thought was my new Superduty is about to become an old Superduty. Then he suddenly started a 180, jumped the median (there was no barrier) and ended up backwards in the oncoming lanes. Somehow he caught an opening in the traffic and did not hit anyone. I am sure he was puckered much more than me, but not something you want to do everyday.
 
   / Too close for comfort #4  
Boy Phil you better count your blessings on that one! Glad your O.K. and you got in a good family night.
Take care.
 
   / Too close for comfort #5  
Sure glad all of you guys are O.K.! /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif
 
   / Too close for comfort #6  
WOW!

What a ride that must have been. At least your ok.

I wish other drivers would look out for more than themselves out there.
 
   / Too close for comfort #7  
Phil, I was visualizing your predicament as I read your note and the hair on my arms was standing up. I used to live in Londonderry and commuted down 93 for 30 years. I have lived through several of those incidents myself. For most of that time I drove a large rear-wheel drive car (Crown Vic) with studded-snows because I felt it was the safest thing on the road. The advent of 4x4 SUVs has brought a new excitement to winter-time highway travel. Some folks think that 4-wheel drive lets them continue to drive 60-80 mph even in the snow. /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif

Londonerry was 10k people when we bought our house ('78) and when it reached 30k, it was time to move on. We now live in a little town of 3k. But you can't move here, because we pulled up the drawbridge after we arrived. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif Nearest highway is 45 minutes away. /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif
 
   / Too close for comfort #8  
Phil,

Glad you're OK. Lovely weather we're having isn't it? /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

I once saw a car spin across 5 lanes of traffic on the Long Island Expressway. Everybody managed to miss him.

Just curious - does your truck have anti-lock brakes?

I'll second the comment on snow tires. I ran them on all my cars. When my truck's tires needed replacing, I got the best snow rated all seasons I could find (Michelin Cross terrains). they weren't cheap ($700 for the set) but what a difference. I rarely have to use 4wd in the snow.
 
   / Too close for comfort #9  
So now you know why most of the other cars were only going 30-35 MPH. When someone blasts past me on a treacherous road, its almost always someone in a 4WD. I mutter to myself "they can go but can they stop?" Thanks for this chance to be heard for a change.
 
   / Too close for comfort #10  
"Happens pretty fast, doesn't it?!"

That's the usual comment I make to shaken-up MVC victims at work. I follow their usual affirmative response with:

"If it happened slow and you still did it, we'd worry about you /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif"

The weirdest accident I've seen happened with all cars standing still! We were stopped on I-75 southbound over the Davison overpass. This bridge was totally iced. Traffic was at a standstill. Ahead of me the car on the right hand, high-side of the banked bridge started to slowly slide to his left. He bumped into the car in the next lane, and together they both slid to the left. Et. cetera, Et. cetera, until four cars were stacked up like pancakes against the left shoulder. I'd hate to be the tow truck operator on this one - trying to remove "crashed cars" that had no damage before he got there!
 

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