What a wonderful morning we are having, right? This morning I get up to another wonderful blanket of snow all over the place. In fact it was just right after I got up that the plows plowed the street right out of my house. I'd say we got about four inches of snow at my house - not a small amount.
Well since I have to get up so freaking early I often get the worst of the commute before plows have gotten everywhere. Have you ever driven somewhere in the snow and felt bad for that poor sap that spun off the road and was currently being airlifted or towed out? Then you realized you should thank him as you say to yourself, "I'm sure glad he was to this spot first," as you lightly tap on your brake. You were quickly reminded of the dangers of driving and how quick your life can turn bad. It is a good lesson learned from the other persons tragedy.
Well being one of the first people out on the roads sometimes makes me that first person who can teach a few other people a good lesson.
I was driving down Victory Road (that long steepish road on the side of the mountain going from the Capitol to Beck Street) this morning at about 6:45-7:00 Am. The plows had maybe gone over this area once early in the morning but had seen the pavement here for a while now. The traffic coming from the other direction had the benefit of more tires spinning away the wet snow. Being that I was going against the flow of commuter traffic I didn't have that luxury. I was barely following along the someone observable two strips of lightly snow covered road that some previous brave soul had ventured upon. It was dark - no street lights here - and I was stupidly trusting the pioneer who had blazed this trail.
A truck, being as most truck owners are, was following closely feeling very confidant that they could go much faster than me and was probably irritated I was in front of him. But I was cautious and I was going relatively slow as to not cause a problem. Having problems here would no doubt result in a bad situation either sliding into the dirt and hitting who knows what on the right or sliding into the oncoming traffic on the left or hitting the wall past that lies just past them.
Suddenly without warning the two tracks of tires led me unknowingly to the right. Further and further - all unbeknown to me. The two tires on the right side of my car made a thud as it fell off the side of the asphalt. I was pretty sure I was driving now half on the road and half off the road! I wasn't sure what to do because I didn't want to stop for a couple of reasons - one, the truck behind me was following pretty close and probably didn't know that I was off the side of the road. A quick stop for me could likely result in him hitting me from behind. A stop could also result in me being stuck in the mucky mud to the side of the road. Besides. I still wasn't totally sure of what was going on. The grogginess of the morning and the darkness of the day weren't helping. What I did know is that I couldn't turn my wheel slightly to the left and have it result in me getting back on the road. I tried, but it wasn't going anywhere. I slowed down a bit and at the same time kept a bit of pressure on the wheel turning left.
This all happened really fast and I know I wasn't thinking clearly or intelligently. Without warning the car popped back on the road. My slight push on the steering wheel to the left might have kept me from totally driving off the road and into the unknown just moments ago, but now that benefit was becoming my enemy. The force of the car popping back on the road and the angle of the tire all coupled with the wet, snowy, and slippery road resulted in a dramatic out of control spin down Victory. The car veered starkly to the left as I quickly became perpendicular to the angle of the road. Lucky for me and the poor man who was coming up the other way on the road there was a slight break in traffic at least avoiding an immediate crash. The truck behind me had to slam on his breaks. The car coming up also had to slow down as fast as he could (luckily gravity helped him out). I tried to turn into the spin, apply brakes - no - apply gas - no - turn away from the spin - no - hold straight - lets be honest...I didn't know what I was doing. The car slid until it stopped halfway in the opposing traffic lanes and half way in my own lane. The car coming up stopped within feet of my car and the car coming down the same. I was almost sliced in two by the opposing forces of the two cars. It was very terrifying.
I sat for two seconds, backed up, straightened my car, and continued down the road. As I passed the car that had stopped on the uphill climb I waved as to say thank you and sorry. He didn't even look in my direction. He looked stunned and scared. He looked as though he was saying to himself, "I'm glad he got to this spot first." Lesson learned. For both of us.
