hazardous journey

Lots of chilling tales. We are here to recount them. I know of several friends over the years that were not as lucky. Count our blessings.

@david-green +1  So true....

..........A very cold morning of February 1991 near Quebec City, I was driving to my office in a brand new Toyota Supra Turbo bought a few months earlier and equipped with 4 winter tires.

I was engaging on a tall bridge overpass with the river down below about 300 ft. The rear wheels suddenly loosed traction on blacck ice and at 90 degrees I went under the steel guard rails that prevented the car from plunging in the river. Under the impact of collision, the top guard felt in the river.

The stress was not over ..... I grabbed my briefcase, get out of the car, ran as fast as I can on the side of the road. An 18 wheeler was coming on the bridge and I was expecting to see my car completely pulverized.

I was safe, the car didn't get hit any further and nobody was injured.

One month later, the exact same day, I was driving back to my office in the afternoon and the radio was on. There was announcement of an accident on the same bridge. That time, the car plunged in the river because the top guard rail was not yet replaced.

There after, every time I drove over that bridge no matter the season, I thought about the guy who lost his life.

@nickies Not ensuring the damaged bridge rail was at least temporarily restored to protect motorists sounds like a very successful negligence lawsuit to me.

thanks guys, for all your great horrifying stories.

Some incredible stories gents!  Here’s just two of my close calls…

March 1973, driving my ‘70 Monte Carlo somewhere in Canada on the old Alcan Highway. On my right was a drop off, to my left a steep hillside; ahead of me around a bend on that narrow road came an 18-wheeler, not moving over and not slowing down. My right side tires dropped off the road; the 18 wheeler sped by me causing a huge swirl of snow that temporarily blinded me but I managed to get back on the road to continue my journey to Texas. I hoped that truck driver got to his destination safely too.

About 10 years ago my youngest son and I rode our Harleys through Big Bend in southern Texas, having one of those wonderful unforgettable father-son riding experiences. On one of those long 2 lane blacktops heading north we could see some very black clouds headed towards us…then the hail hit. We slowed to about 12 mph so our tires could keep contact with the road. After a few minutes the hail stopped and we came to a small town and dried off in the local Jack in the box to dry off and let our hearts slow down. A text from my other son’s wife quoted the biker’s prayer she’d sent the exact time we entered that hailstorm…do I believe in guardian angels? Absolutely.

@david-vandermeer 

OMG David, does the hail in the Big Bend hit home. When I lived in Texas (now 37 years ago) we made several trips to Terlingua for the World Chili Cookoffs. One year we made a vacation centered around the event to include a trip through the Big Bend National Park, then north to view the "Marfa Lights", a stop at Fort Davis and the McDonald Observatory before going into New Mexico to the Carlsbad Caverns. Coming out of Monahans Sand Dunes, the sky turned black, unlike a normal Texas blue norther and here came the hail. It pelted the car something awful with nowhere to stop or go. I had seen the almost-every-year hail storms of Ft. Worth but this was something else and nothing like what you had to have felt on a motorcycle!!

@perrone1 Insurance claim time Tony?

@jack-dodds 

Hail claims were a common occurrence in my area. That was my only auto hail claim; I had 3 under homeowners over the years though.

@perrone1 Common here in Alberta where I live now as well.  A car dealership's worst nightmare!  When I first bought my car insurance upon moving here one question they asked me was if I had a garage at my residence, which I thought was odd.....but I get it now.

I recall many years ago when I attended college in Alberta a classmate from the area told me that many people get rid of their old beater or lemon cars that way; leave them out in a bad hail storm and get them written off by their insurance.

@jack-dodds 

I hated hailstorms. We've only suffered one here in TN, many years ago now, that caused bad damage. Insurance covered replacing the roof. 

I have been in a few horrific car wreaks but was never a driver so I will skip the grim details.  My biggest fear in driving is brake failure.  My first year of college and driving my 1963 T-Bird in Miami.  Approached a busy intersection, red light, brake pedal went to the floor and nothing.  Shot thru the intersection, cars just missing me.  I learned why they call the little pedal an "emergency" brake.  Thank goodness Miami has no hills.  I was to young to know to turn off the ignition switch, but then try and steer a T-Bird without power assist.

GDH and his story in the Houston Sakowitz department store parking lot.  In the 1970s I was the Corporate Interior Designer, Store Planning Dept.  I only answered directly to Robert Sakowitz.  Robert had a habit of asking whomever was near, to do something personal for him.  For instance:  Al, could you pick up my luggage that I left at the airport.  So I get to the airport and he left more than two dozen Louis Vuitton suitcases.  Called his secretary and said deal with it.  Another time:  Al, I left a car in the parking garage, could you take it to our warehouse.  Some people have a storage locker, Robert had a warehouse.  Turns out it was a Lamborghini that was so dust covered I doubt it had been driven for years.  Started to back out, no brakes, bang into a column, thankfully not into another parked car.  I pushed the car back into its parking spot, called his secretary and said deal with it.  Never any mention about the damage to the Lambo.  All these decades later whenever I take my car in for an oil change, I instruct to check the brake fluid.