Last week I was driving down the middle lane of a three-lane highway on my way to see a new client. A semi was in front of me and there were cars to my left and right. Suddenly, I heard a loud thwunk, my pickup truck lurched forward – as did I. My seatbelt stopped me from hitting the steering wheel, the headrest kept my head from snapping back. I looked into my rear view mirror. There was no one behind me. I looked ahead. The road looked safe. My truck hadn’t veered. What had just happened? I glanced in the mirror again and I saw a car careening sideways across traffic to the right, and another vehicle crossing lanes to the left heading into the guard rail. One of those cars had rear-ended me as it spun out of control.
It was more than a mile before I could safely stop and check for damage. When I bought my horse trailer, I splurged on a new truck, partly for safety reasons. You hear a lot about recalls and dangerous cars, but the fact is that vehicle engineers have designed very effective safety features. This photo shows the back end of the truck after the accident. The bumper absorbed the impact without getting a dent. It did exactly what it was engineered to do.
Doesn’t look too bad, does it? I drove the truck to the body shop, just to double check that it was okay. It’s a good thing that I did because the garage owner pointed out that the bumper was smashed into the truck and the hitch attachment on the underside was ruined.
It took me a couple of days before I could bring myself to drive on the highway again. Until then, I drove backroads to get to my horse. I spent time sitting on the floor of Tonka’s stall while he ate. Thank goodness that whuffly breaths and the sounds of a horse chewing hay were all the healing that I needed.
Oh Terry I am so glad you are ok! And yes, time with a horse is wonderfully healing!
There’s something about listening to a horse chewing…
So glad you are okay, could have been so much worse. Please get yourself checked as even severe jolting can bruise and injure. Tonka is great therapy and comfort. 🙂
Not even a headache 🙂
So happy that you are okay! And very glad that you weren’t towing precious cargo!!!
Agreed!
Very poorly written!….,I read it 2 times
and I still don’t have a clue what happened!
What did you hit?
Ouch. A rather harsh comment. I try to keep the tone nice here, even when it’s directed at me 🙂 but I let this through because if I frustrated a reader by my writing, I want to set it right. I didn’t hit anything. I was rear-ended by a car spinning out of control behind me.
Wow, scary indeed! Glad you had the truck checked out so you can continue to trailer safely. I’ve gotten less and less comfortable trailering on big highways, thinking of my vulnerable horse and how little control I have over the actions of others. I feel much more confident in my little VW Jetta.
It’s a lesson that a trailer safety check yearly is also a good idea!
Wow, what a scary close call! I’m glad to hear that you are uninjured. I don’t blame you for avoiding the highway for a while. I can’t imagine how bad that would have been if the trailer was attached at the time 🙁
I thought about that scenario with the trailer attached. Scary.
So glad you are okay and that Tonka is so good at making you feel better. I don’t understand the comment about being poorly written. Your post seemed very clear to me and well written as always. Enjoy your Tonka time.
Thanks, Carol.
So scary! Glad you are okay!