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| on our way to go fishing yesterday, Mike (lardonastick) and i had a stunning demonstration of why to wear seatbelts and have airbags in your car or truck.
we left my house at 0400 and were making good time, talking baseball and fishing. heading north on Hwy 41 just south of Appleton at about 0530, the small pickup truck immediately in front of us drifted from the center lane to the right lane. it then suddenly swerved very hard left, passing in front of us across all three lanes and striking the cement wall of the median essentially head-on at around 60mph. the brake lights never turned on.
this was by far the most sudden and astoundingly violent accident i've ever seen. the image of someone driving a truck head-on into a cement wall at speed is something that sticks with you.
after a few expletives, as i slammed on the brakes and pulled over to the side, i said to Mike, "he's dead. there's no way he lived through that." we both worried about what we'd find. i called 9-1-1 and ran back to the totaled truck to see the driver climbing out of the truck through the passenger side door. he was confused and complaining of a hurt leg, but conscious, not bleeding anywhere, and alive.
apparently he fell asleep and lost control.
without his seatbelt and airbags there's no way he survived.
- wear your seatbelt
- if you're getting tired and stuggling to drive, STOP.
we've all been there: early morning starts to go fishing, late nights after a day on the lake, or the long drive home from a week-long trip somewhere. after seeing this i know i'll never again keep driving with a case of the "head nods".
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Posts: 32885
Location: Rhinelander, Wisconsin | No destination, not even a distant 40# muskie, is worth falling asleep at the wheel; the guy is lucky he didn't take lambeau or someone else out in the process. I drive about 50K a year, and see a couple of these a year; mostly truck drivers. |
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Posts: 413
Location: Madison WI | I have had a similar experience like the one mentioned above but it involved me in a compact car vs a semi with a trailer, lets just say that if I hadn't been wearing my seatbelt I wouldn't be here today. |
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Posts: 1764
Location: Ogden, Ut | It's good that you were able to avoid direct involvement in the crash. Glad no one was hurt.
I think in this case it's better that you got a chance to learn a valuable lesson from observation rather than experience...thanks for the reminder. (you could have gotten a dent) 
S. |
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Posts: 2091
Location: Stevens Point, WI | I've seen it over and over again when people are belted and they walk away from total carnage. Many times we just have to cut them out of the vehicle because they are stuck, not really hurt bad. Not wearing a belt is really about the dumbest thing a person can do. |
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Posts: 929
Location: Rhinelander. | Had my own dramatic crash yesterday. While stopped at a stop light in rhinelander yesterday. A young girl came over the hill speeding by alot. Yup you guessed it. She said she never saw me at the stop light and plowed right into the back of my suburban> They figure she was going a little over 50 miles per hour in a 35. No lic. no insurance. She was behinf the wheel with a suspended license. All I get out of the deal is a smashed up suburban, a bill to repair it. a hospital bill and whiplash. Why in the heck does anyone drive without a lic. or insurance. She now faces a minimum $6000.00 fine and a year in jail. Now mommy and daddy get to raise her baby.
Pfeiff |
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Posts: 30
| Here is the lighter side of a crash.
My 72 year old mother got in a crash with a Green Bay police squad car Sat. morning. She was driving along at 10 under watching the sqad coming at her on the wrong side of the road. (she was laughing as she told me this story)
The officer (50 yr old female vet of the force) was looking for a suspect flleeing the area.
They collided at about 10 mph. All that happened was a torn off front license plate and a crack in the bumper.
Funniest parts - My mom has never been been in an accident. Her first is with a police car. The police commisioner was there talking to her (required in an officer involved crash) standing next to the squad car. The officer who hit her was filling out paperwork and accidently hit the siren. My mom jumped so high the commisioner reached out and grabbed her.
The commisioner looked at my mom, started laughing when he realized she was ok, and said "She really is one of best officers. She is just having a bad day." I can sympathise with that.
I think my mom actually had fun with the whole thing. |
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Posts: 477
Location: Iowa | I fell asleep at the wheel in North Carolina on my way back to Ft. Bragg after a 2 week leave. Going down the interstate about 70-75 mph, not even feeling that tired when I hit the guard rail and bounced to the median sideways then straightened it out back to the guard rail head on. 10 feet earlier and I would have missed the guard rail and went straight over the 100-200 foot cliff straight to the rock bottom, and had I not had the seat belt on I would have been thrown from my seat not being able to hold the wheel straight like I did when I realized what was going on. State trooper was coming around the corner towards us saw the whole thing and thought we would be dead when he pulled up. We both got out and walked away with a few bruises. The guy with me got lucky, he didn't have his seat belt on, and somehow did not get ejected on any of the impacts. If I'm getting tired now I stop. Stopping and doing some stretches or physical activity does more for you than loud radio, windows down, etc......... You need to get your heart pumping and blood flowing.
Edited by Lone Stone 11/3/2008 8:55 PM
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Posts: 13688
Location: minocqua, wi. | we happened on a big crash where a mother traveling with her kids and their grandmother were coming home from a long day ... she dozed or fell asleep and they crashed into a river ditch on hwy 29 near abbotsford. we were the first ones there and i'll never forget it ... pulling the kids out of a vehicle trapped upside down knowing the adults in front did not make it. as a parent of 4 kids that was one of the toughest days i've ever lived through.
driving fatigue is a real safety issue and one that needs to be paid attention to. i drive about 40-50k a year for work and have trouble in those afternoon hours ... if i feel it, i'll pull over and take a cat-nap. just a stop and a 10 minute nap can be the smartest choice you'll ever make.
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Posts: 8779
| I fell asleep on the way home from the PI outing two years ago. 4 days of fishing hard, partying hard, and sleeping little had apparently taken its toll. I remember looking at the clock and thinking "Hmm. 9:00 pm. Making good time, should be home around 1:00 am" Next thing I remember was seeing the double yellow line on the wrong side of the truck and realizing I must have been asleep. Fighting really hard to stay in my lane. "must... stay.... awake..." So I turned up the radio, opened up the window, motored on. "I'll be fine."
About this time I saw a deer on the side of the road up ahead. As I got closer it ran across in front of my truck. Funny thing was it didn't seem real, it was almost like watching it on TV. I didn't flinch, I didn't even hit the brakes. Half asleep I guess. I looked down, noticed I was doing about 70. "I ought to slow down..." I looked back up just in time to see the second deer, right in my headlights. I'm not quite sure what happened next. I remember gripping the steering wheel and ducking (like that's gonna help) waiting for the crash. To this day I have no idea how I didn't hit that deer. I pulled over and walked around a bit trying to catch my breath and regain myself. My heart was pounding. "holy sh--!" I don't know how I made it that far, I don't know how long I was sleeping or how many times I nodded off. Got back in the truck, I looked to see what time it was. "Wow, 10:30? I don't even remember the last hour and a half. Where AM I anyway??" As I pulled away, the reality of what just transpired started to sink in. I could have died. I could have taken someone else with me. If it wasn't for that deer who knows what could have happened?? That deer probably saved my life.
That's a mistake I will NEVER make again. If I start nodding off, I'm off the road at the next safe place I can stop. Walk around, take a nap, get some coffee. Don't be stupid and keep driving. Bad enough I could have killed myself, but I could have killed someone else too.
Edited by esoxaddict 11/4/2008 10:10 AM
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Posts: 724
Location: Southern W.Va. | Mikie and myself was just heading out to fish in Ohio when I saw 3 deer comming our way, 2 deer stopped but the 3rd deer hit the Gambler , bent up the right fender on the trailer and bent a axle. Not a good way to start out the day.
Can't be too careful.
Mauser |
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Posts: 131
| A few years back while heading to bone lake for the second day of the tournament my fishing partner and i came up to the crest of a hill and bingo .fresh dinner jumps right out in front of us .doing about sixty and pulling a 1775 skeeter.I kind of live by the rule if ya swerve bad things can happen .The scariest part about it was hearing my 65 year old partner screem like a 6th grade girl.we smoked it on the drivers side. the truck wasnt damaged,8" of lift helped alot. when we got to the landing the dock helpers were all looking and pointing .the side of my white boat was covered in blood and stinky half digested alpha. My partner didnt waste any time hitting the out house. maybe it wasnt the deer guts that smelled? rule 1 dont swerve hit um hard teach them a lesson |
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dramatic crash