Chance favors the prepared mind. If I was a worrier, I wouldn't be driving anymore either:
September 2016, I was driving along in my 2013 Explorer, 11AM, beautiful day in PA, when BHAM! An enormous tree began to fall into the road. I had maybe 3 seconds to react. I twitched the wheel to the right, but thought better of it and stayed the course. I was literally standing on the brakes with both feet and my *** up off the seat.
When it became apparent that I would be under this tree, I brought my *** down and crouched inside the cabin as low as I could, still pressing the brakes as hard as I could. My truck stopped and for about 3 more seconds the tree kept falling on top of me. That was the worst part, wondering if the cabin would hold.
Once the tree stopped, I quickly unbuckled, and reached for my windshield hammer. But why??? The entire cabin was surrounded by large limbs that I clearly could not climb through. It was like Wizard of Oz and the tree had engulfed my truck. So I climbed over the console to the back of the truck. I could see a guy looking inside the vehicle and when he got to the driver's window he was shocked to find no one there. He couldn't see me in the back, through the tinted windows, so I yelled out, "the back! The back!" He then came an opened the hatch and I climbed out.
Folks were looking at me like I was walking on water. They couldn't believe I just walked out of that truck. I was walking like, "yeah, so that just happened." My heart wasn't even racing. I've almost hit squirrels and had a higher heart rate. The fact is, there was no time for an adrenalin rush. It happened that fast.
Key take-aways:
- Speed limit was 35MPH. Anytime I'm in a zone less than 55 MPH, I set my cruise to the speed limit and enjoy the ride. Cops are more likely to whack you in a 35MPH, doing 45, then doing 68 in a 55. The Sgt agreed, if I had gotten to the tree any sooner, I'm crushed. The 18" beam that was at my wheels, would have been on top of my head. If I had tried to gun it an get through, I would be decapitated. The 12" beam now resting at the base of my windshield would have seen to that.
- 10 minutes after the crash, I saw this young girl and her 2 year old son. We began talking and she explained her car was under the tree as well, to the right of mine. She was merging from an off ramp, windows open, when she heard the crack of the tree, then my brakes, then the top branches of the tree landed on her vehicle. The tree had spanned 4 lanes by then. As she was finishing her story, my knees nearly buckled. I realized that had I gone to the right, I would have t-boned her and her son. I still well-up thinking about that. I work for an oil company and the tanker drivers have strict orders. When something goes wrong on the road, 'Hold the line". Don't veer left, don't veer right. Bad things might happen going straight, but veering left or right almost always ends in disaster. I always look for a way out, but there was no time and it was too risky. The tree had snapped about 7 feet off the ground, on he oncoming traffic side of the road - my left. I probably could have shot under there, but then risk a head on collision?? No thanks. Again, mere seconds to decide.
- Texting, reaching for the radio, watching a pretty girl cross the street, and I would have lost the critical few seconds that probably saved my left. I'm MUCH more conscious about districted driving now. The road was clear and 5 seconds later a tree was on me. It CAN happen. I was prepared, maybe a bit lucky as well
- Incidents are rarely accidents. One third of this tree had fallen onto the pedestrian side a couple days before, landing on a small business complex. In fact, it was still resting there when the rest fell into the street on me. The owner had called a tree surgeon and they were supposed to remove the tree 2 hours before I got there. The truth is that tree was overgrown for a long time. The tree had given folks fair warning and it was ignored. Someone could have been killed.
- my wife said the angels were looking out for me that day. I said, "maybe they were out to get me and I was just better than they were." It was a while before she agreed to ride in a car with me again... We kept it fairly lighthearted with my young daughters, but my one daughter finally took exception to that and with good reason. It could have ended very differently, so we let it go at that and moved on. Hopefully other can learn from it.
- Anyone know how to get of the back hatch of an Explorer, from the inside, without breaking the window. The truck was totaled, so it didn't matter. But I don't think there's release like you would see in a trunk.
The End...well, thankfully not ; )
