A cloudy day and I was working for an office equipment company making repair calls in town for a change.
As I headed toward my next call I noticed the rain coming in quickly behind me. As I stopped at a traffic light it caught up with me and was gone within a minute. No big deal, I thought as I rounded a bend in the road and saw the fully loaded dump truck carrying salt to the road barns. He was just pulling out of the side street and turning west onto the road I was headed east on. I pumped the brakes and did several evasive maneuvers that did little on the rain slicked pavement. He was just too close to avoid. My left headlight hit squarely on his rear tandem. One of the witnesses told the policeman I did everything but fly trying to avoid the accident.
The heavily loaded dump truck barely felt the impact, and for a few minutes I didn't feel anything either. When I came to, the truck driver was pounding on my window and trying to open my door. The poor guy thought he had killed me. Fortunately, I was wearing my seat belt as I had since I started driving in the mid 1960s. Still I had bent the steering wheel over with my mouth in the impact. There was blood everywhere from a widely split lip. I unlocked the door, was helped out of the car (the other driver was sure it was about to explode) and lay on the ground until the ambulance and police arrived. The policeman took my license to write the report and told me he would return it at the hopsital the next day.
I was loaded into the ambulance and was coherent enough to ask them if they could take me to a hospital across the river where my brother, Rob, was working. I arrived there, had x-rays and stitches and rode home with my brother.
The next day I went to the police station and saw the investigating officer who said he was sure I was going to in the hosptial for weeks from all the blood. I laughed. I was a tough old bird even then. The other driver was cited and the city bought me a "new" vehicle and a suit to replace the bloodied suit I was wearing.
I am not sure what anyone else thought of my adventure, but shortly thereafter I found a job where I could work in an electronics shop and do my traveling on airplanes. However it didn't take long for me to get the travel bug back.
-- Kent
As I headed toward my next call I noticed the rain coming in quickly behind me. As I stopped at a traffic light it caught up with me and was gone within a minute. No big deal, I thought as I rounded a bend in the road and saw the fully loaded dump truck carrying salt to the road barns. He was just pulling out of the side street and turning west onto the road I was headed east on. I pumped the brakes and did several evasive maneuvers that did little on the rain slicked pavement. He was just too close to avoid. My left headlight hit squarely on his rear tandem. One of the witnesses told the policeman I did everything but fly trying to avoid the accident.
The heavily loaded dump truck barely felt the impact, and for a few minutes I didn't feel anything either. When I came to, the truck driver was pounding on my window and trying to open my door. The poor guy thought he had killed me. Fortunately, I was wearing my seat belt as I had since I started driving in the mid 1960s. Still I had bent the steering wheel over with my mouth in the impact. There was blood everywhere from a widely split lip. I unlocked the door, was helped out of the car (the other driver was sure it was about to explode) and lay on the ground until the ambulance and police arrived. The policeman took my license to write the report and told me he would return it at the hopsital the next day.
I was loaded into the ambulance and was coherent enough to ask them if they could take me to a hospital across the river where my brother, Rob, was working. I arrived there, had x-rays and stitches and rode home with my brother.
The next day I went to the police station and saw the investigating officer who said he was sure I was going to in the hosptial for weeks from all the blood. I laughed. I was a tough old bird even then. The other driver was cited and the city bought me a "new" vehicle and a suit to replace the bloodied suit I was wearing.
I am not sure what anyone else thought of my adventure, but shortly thereafter I found a job where I could work in an electronics shop and do my traveling on airplanes. However it didn't take long for me to get the travel bug back.
-- Kent
