I Wrecked Because of Stupidity

I was going too fast in the snow.  I didn't think I was but when your truck ends up sitting on the guard rail of the interstate then obviously you were doing something wrong.  And I was.  I was driving too fast for the road conditions.

I had just moved back to West Virginia from Florida after living down south for 5 years.  I should have taken into consideration the fact that I had not been on icy roads for a few years, but "NO", "NOT ME," "Not Super driver!"

I started to say, " in my defense,"  but there's not one so I won't waste my time with that.

I was coming down a mountain on a 4 lane highway in a line of about 5 cars.  I decided that I didn't want to be in the back catching all the slush and muck from the other cars so I got into the other slush covered lane (there weren't even any tire tracks in the thick, wet snow) and I proceeded to pass the other cars.  I was going around 50 mph.

Just as I got to the foot of the hill in a gently sloping curve the back of my truck decided that it wanted to be the front of my truck.  I started doing doughnuts at 50 mph!  Here I was whirling and twirling, completely out of control, watching as I spun out between each and every car I had just passed.  It was a nightmare come true.  I have to give credit to the other drivers for not hitting me.

 I was in the truck with my 70 pound greyhound and she was flung into me as the truck spun around.  The force of her body hitting mine is something I will never forget and is an excellent argument for strapping your kids in.  Even if you have your seat belt on they become 70 pound projectiles!

What I didn't feel as I was spinning like a top was all 4 corners of my truck hitting the guard rail at some point!  But you could sure see the damage after I got out of the truck.  It was obvious after looking at my truck sitting on top of the guard rail that only a tow truck was going to get me out of my predicament.

It was so scary and I was so grateful that ALL of the cars I had just passed pulled off to the side of the road to make sure I was okay.  This was in the days before cell phones and a kind man in one of the other cars offered to take me and Queenie (my greyhound) to some place safe.  My dad was a car dealer - hence my feeling of being an indestructible driver - I was a car dealer's daughter after all.  So he drove us to one of my dad's car dealer friend's lots and I called my dad from there to come get me.

The good samaritan tried to go to my truck to get Queenie out and I stopped him.  Queenie was a gentle soul who never offered to bite anyone in her life but when a dog is scared and potentially hurt it isn't a good idea for a stranger to approach them.  So I got her out of the truck and she was none the worse for wear.  She went to sleep as soon as we got into the man's car and she slept at the car lot until my dad got there to get us.

There was surprisingly little damage to the truck.  As I mentioned all 4 corners were dinged in but other than that it looked fine.  But the insurance company still totaled it because it probably had tons of damage to the undercarriage when it was dragged off the guard rail.

My dad was kind enough to give me another truck since I was in the process of divorcing my husband - hence my move back to West Virginia in the first place.