I had an incident a couple of years ago where I was involved in a collision on the highway. I was going full highway speed and got rear-ended by someone going much faster. This morning, I had another collision, with slightly different circumstances.
I’m doing my usual morning commute to work and just about ready to turn off at my exit. Something catches my eye and I look in the rear view mirror and a semi truck is right on my ass. The truck had moved into my lane to pass another semi that was to my left. I look in the mirror and say, “You motherfucker. Why don’t you get a little closer.” So he did.
Now, I’m saying, “Whatever, fucker. You can wait until I get off in a few seconds.” But he didn’t seem to care. He got even closer. Even more pissed off, I put on my turn signal to let him know I’d be out of the way soon. What I did not consider is that I am a tiny, tiny car. He is a massive semi truck. Not that it’s any absolution, but he probably never even saw me. His huge hood probably blocked me from his view entirely. And so, it’s probably no surprise what happened next.
I got bumped. My car swerved to the right, into the exit lane and he pulled up alongside me. I’m still not sure if he even noticed me at this point. I sped up alongside him and blared my tiny, tiny horn at him, but I doubt he even heard it. The median guardrail was coming up quickly, so I had to abort and stay in the exit lane, leaving him to go on his (probably) oblivious way.
At the stop light at the end of the exit lane, I immediately jumped out and checked the damage to my car. It’s just some very minor scuffing on the bumper that can probably be polished out. I went the rest of the way to work and it was at that time, I realized I left my phone at the house. This will be a great day.
But you know what? I have a dash cam. Granted, it doesn’t have a rear-facing camera, but I still have evidence I was hit. Just as an aside, a rear dash cam would be outrageous. Everything scary and crazy always happens behind me. So, in the parking lot at work, I saved the segment of the incident and later, I reviewed the video. The quality is pretty good. I am able to make out the trucking company name and their DOT license. Hopefully that’s enough of a lead to make this guy’s life miserable.
In the time I’ve had to think about this, my thoughts on the event have changed. My initial thought was that I got bumped because I was going too slow for this truck driver and he was impatient to pass this other truck. As I’ve thought more about it, it’s probably just that I was invisible to him. Again, that doesn’t make him any less at fault here. But, it does make me extremely lucky that when the truck moved into my lane, I was in the position I was. If I was in his blind spot when he changed lanes and he was that close to my rear when he came in, it’s not unfathomable that I could have been a foot or two farther back and he would have clipped my rear bumper, sending me into a spin. Things could have been far worse.
But, in spite of the fortune granted on me, FUCK ALL YOU MOTHERFUCKERS! YOU SONS OF BITCHES ARE FUCKING MENACES ON THE ROAD AND YOU ALL NEED TO DIE!! LEARN TO FUCKING DRIVE, LEARN TO HAVE SOME PATIENCE, LEARN THAT IT’S NOT JUST YOU ON THE ROAD! IT’S NOT YOUR FUCKING ROAD, WE ALL HAVE TO USE IT. WE ALL HAVE TO WORK TOGETHER TO MAKE THIS EVENT SAFE AND EFFICIENT. SAFE AND EFFICIENT! GOD DAMN IT, YOU BASTARDS! I FUCKING HATE ALL OF YOU!!!!
Let me be clear. I don’t hate you as people, I hate you as drivers and the people you become when you start driving. Seriously, you do not think of what the consequences could be. Every time you change a lane, that is an opportunity to sideswipe someone. Each time you are checking the lane you want to get into, you are not checking the lane you are in and the cars in front of you. Every time you speed up into a passing lane (especially to the right), you have the chance of finding traffic stopped in front of you in that new lane. If you’re a large truck, you need to look beside you and not just behind you when changing lanes.
And you, Mr. Red Truck, working for Trimac Transportation Inc., you’re going to hear from me very shortly.
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