Ralph Nader, a political activist in the mid-sixties, wrote the book Unsafe at Any Speed, which describes the dangers in several cars at the time. I’ve come to believe that I might be unsafe at any speed. Recently, a couple of items have suddenly appeared in front of me while I was driving.
Peter was visiting us last week, and Monday, I drove him back home. It’s a straight shot from Waco to Fort Worth, and there wasn’t very much traffic, either way. On the way home, I stopped at West, where there’s a big bank of gas pumps, and a large place to shop for souvenirs, drinks, and famous Czech kolaches. I bought David a brisket kolache for dinner and some tea to drink, got back in the car, and drove on home.
The traffic was pretty light. At some point, as I was driving 70 or so mph, down I35, the car in front of me changed lanes, and, as I traveled in that lane, I saw what seemed like . . . a shadow? On the road? And, no. It wasn’t a shadow. It was, I’m pretty sure, a piece of a tire. And I ran over it.
There was an impressive THUMP underneath the car, and, in the rear view mirror, I could see what seemed like tire pieces scattering around on the road behind me.
Oh, Dear. I very carefully watched the dials on the dashboard, looking for evidence of what might have happened. The gas needle stayed in place. No lights came on. Maybe everything was all right.
As I drove into Waco, the car seemed to run normally. When I got home, David was there, and I pulled into the garage and went to explain what happened and asked him to look under the car and try to determine if he could see any damage. No liquids were dripping down on the garage floor. I’d driven several miles without any emergency lights coming on. No shaking, no rattling, things seemed normal. So, we just assumed that whatever noise I’d heard hadn’t done any damage to the car.
He checked again the next morning, and didn’t see any leaking or dripping.
A little later, I was on my way to run some errands. (Peter had left his piano music book here and would like to have it, and Jeremy needed a certified birth certificate. So, to the health department and the post office.) I backed out of the garage and pulled out of the driveway. And . . . SCRAPE! Scrape? I parked the car and got out to look. Ooohhh. That big noise that I thought was under the car? It was the big piece of tire slamming into the front of the car.
And it looks like this:
Later in the day (still Tuesday), I was driving down a four-lane street, on my way to the post office, and, in front of me, there was a heavily-loaded pickup truck that seemed to be part of a moving-day trip. A large blanket, or maybe, a tarp, sailed off the top of the truck’s load. I changed lanes to avoid the tarp, which landed in the lane behind the truck. Then, a block or so later, some pieces of light-weight furniture (?), maybe, dropped right off the truck, into my lane, right in front of me. REALLY!! REALLY!! I was able to come to a stop, right behind the debris. And I sat there. Cars came up behind me. I didn’t get out. I just sat there, shrieking in my head. WHAT’S GOING ON WITH ME AND MY CAR AND ROAD DEBRIS! The pickup truck slowly backed up, complicated by the cars trying to get around me. The people in the truck smiled at me and got out and retrieved their stuff, and I just nodded and waited.
It looked like this:
So far this week, on Wednesday and Thursday, I’ve not had any road disasters. We did however, have to make a trip to the the collision place to get an estimate. Let’s don’t talk about that right now.
Everything on earth has its own time and its own season.
There is a time for birth and death,
planting and reaping, for killing and healing,
destroying and building, for crying and laughing,
weeping and dancing
Ecclesiastes 3:1-4 (Contemporary English Version)
So, I’ve done the destroying and weeping, and now I’m ready for the healing and laughing.
Yeow!! I remember two rather similar incidents. A truck in front of me had a large metal ladder fly off and land right in front of me…I was able to stop in time, but the imagination of that thing coming though my windshield rattled me for the next several miles. Another time on an interstate, a vehicle on the other side lost a tire which came flying down the grassy median strip and just barely crossed the road in front of me, missing me as I was praying vigorously. Sounds like we both have a guardian angel to look up in heaven.
They say things come in threes. If we include the piece of a tree that fell off a truck in front of you a couple of years ago and did a number on underside of your car, you’ve hit #3 on road debris! Perhaps you’ve fulfilled that category.
Sympathizing with your road debris stories and understanding. I won’t attempt to add the many tales I could add but suffice it to say I have had many. The most notable was years ago when I ran over or bumped into a road cone on the highway. The cone went under the car, somehow became upright & pushed itself into the car’s undercarriage! All I remember was driving t he car home at which point the cone pushed it’s way further into the engine. And, the car had to be towed! Not a happy story but it was amazingly reparable! So, dear one, I feel your pain!