No Stopping on a Dime

“Hoss, you ain't gonna believe this, but that crazy sumbitch just tried to drive right up under my truck!” — Jerry Reed as Cledus "Snowman" Snow in Smokey and the Bandit

I have hit a deer while driving a tractor-trailer and I can now add a car to my resume. At the time, I was driving to make my last delivery of the morning on a rainy, slushy interstate south of Janesville, Wisconsin. A light rain/sleet mix was falling.

I could see emergency vehicles farther up the road on the right shoulder. I put on my turn signal to make the lane change from the right lane into the middle lane. I had room to safely make the lane change, but as I settled into the lane I could see a vehicle in the center lane that was coming up really fast. The driver of the car entered the left lane and threw on the high beams. Then the driver aggressively pulled in front of me so close that I can’t say that I saw the car’s rear bumper. Then, without warning, the driver applied the brakes hard with no more than a car-length between us. I tried to avoid hitting the car, but we were too close and I was somewhat limited by the weather and the road conditions. The collision resulted in a pretty loud bang, as one might expect.

I started looking for a place to pull over and call the police. The driver of the other vehicle managed to regain control of the vehicle and pulled off on the shoulder. Given the aggressive driving, I wasn’t exactly looking forward to making the other driver’s acquaintance. It seemed to me like a possible road rage incident. Did this driver think that I had cut him or her off? Why did the other driver aggressively cut so close in front of me and hit the brakes? Had the other driver intended to intimidate me? To wreck me? I didn’t know what the driver had intended to do, but it seemed terribly reckless and dangerous.

I decided to drive a bit further down the road before pulling off the highway onto the shoulder. Close enough that I could see the car, but far enough that I would have some time to work things out if the driver got out of the car and approached me on foot. I told the 911 dispatcher what had happened. When asked if anyone was hurt, I replied that I wasn’t hurt, but that I didn’t know if the other driver was hurt. I relayed that the other driver had managed to pull safely off of the highway onto the shoulder. I mentioned my concerns that the other driver might have given into road rage. The dispatcher agreed that wasn’t exactly an unreasonable concern. As such, I was instructed to stay in the truck while wearing my seatbelt.

When the police arrived, they evidently instructed the other driver to drive forward on the shoulder to where I was parked. One of the law enforcement officers spoke to the driver of the other vehicle. Another officer, a deputy sheriff, climbed up to my passenger window to speak with me. He asked for my ID and I relayed to him my account of what had happened. Shortly thereafter, he returned and indicated that the woman had essentially confirmed my account of the accident. She had told the other officer that she had probably been driving too fast and that she had slowed down right in front of me after moving into the lane. The deputy thought that perhaps she had panicked a bit when she entered the left lane and discovered that the accumulated slush and snow was worse than she expected and then she slowed down forgetting that a very large tractor-trailer was directly behind her. Fortunately, the damage was relatively minor. Evidently it didn’t reach the monetary damages threshold to require that an accident report be generated. Just notes. It wasn’t a reportable accident. Of course, I had to report it to my company’s insurance provider. But legally, I am in the clear for the accident. Given what could have happened earlier this morning, we were both fortunate that nobody was hurt or worse. For that, I am supremely thankful.

Below is a clip from a favorite film that portrays the event that led to the quote by one of the characters. Enjoy. Just remember to give those tractor-trailers some room out on our highways. Stopping a vehicle safely that can weigh up to 80,000 pounds without special permits takes time and space.

“Smokey and the Bandit 1977 Total lack of respect of the law scene”

https://youtu.be/xKY0ZR5cSEo

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