Today, I almost died.
I’ve just suffered one of, if not the, most terrifying encounter of my life. It’s 07:31am, and up until 5 minutes ago, I was driving home from Edinburgh to north-east Scotland. It’s heavy snow on the A9, to the extent of blizzards, and I was forced to drive at 30mph for the past five or ten miles, staying cautiously behind some lorries and other vehicles, due to the incredibly low visibility I was equipped with before finding these vehicles.
Unfortunately, the fates are not with me tonight, for as I slowly dragged on behind one large red lorry, it suddenly pulled out to the right, and overtook a car which had either overstepped a junction due to the snow, or maybe hadn’t pulled out fast enough. As a result, I had to follow suit in order to avoid my own collision with this car, and as I did so, with as much care and caution as can be allowed in the circumstances, the car started to slip and slide a bit. I managed to avoid running into the back of the car, though there was no warning whatsoever. However, I was now faced with a greater challenge. The lorry had braked suddenly, meaning it was much closer than before. So I braked enough to stay a safe distance back, until the lorry pulled back into the tracks of the ones before it, and I was left to run on snow.
With no space between the now-moving car and the lorry I was tailing, I decided the safest course of action was not to drop back, and impose upon the rather close vehicles from behind me, especially with the risk of attempting to quickly manoeuvre in between them, and instead decided to just maintain a steady pace and overtake the lorry, slotting peacefully back in behind the ones in front, and the one I’d been tailing.
Unfortunately, the heavy snow meant this wasn’t going to happen. Instead, as I continued, the car found it could not cope with the snow, and I lost all traction. This meant I had to now avoid hitting the side of the lorry, which I managed only just by steering into my skid as I’ve been told to do on many occasions. However, a new problem arose from this – the barriers at the side of the road. I had to avoid these. Within the space of one lane of road, I managed to slip and slide a good 200yards, finally passing the lorry… until the car gave up, and spun 180degrees. This meant my car was now on the same side of the road as before, but facing into the patœh of the now-oncoming lorry. Instead of panicking, I simply steered left, so as to shift my back end out the way, knowing full well I had a better chance of surviving if I went into the ditch, rather than trying to steer into the red lorry. As such, I’m writing this post from the side of the road in Dalwhinnie, on the A9, waiting for my mum to phone back with news of a recovery vehicle headed my way, and suffering a large bout of the shakes due to the massive adrenaline rush I’ve just been through. Fuck yer sky-diving, THIS is the real thrills!
It's the new chicken - drift, 180degrees, into the path of the vehicle you just overtook. That'll put some fucking hair on your chest!!!
[this post was written on my trusty macbook ten or so minutes after the event.]
Unfortunately, the fates are not with me tonight, for as I slowly dragged on behind one large red lorry, it suddenly pulled out to the right, and overtook a car which had either overstepped a junction due to the snow, or maybe hadn’t pulled out fast enough. As a result, I had to follow suit in order to avoid my own collision with this car, and as I did so, with as much care and caution as can be allowed in the circumstances, the car started to slip and slide a bit. I managed to avoid running into the back of the car, though there was no warning whatsoever. However, I was now faced with a greater challenge. The lorry had braked suddenly, meaning it was much closer than before. So I braked enough to stay a safe distance back, until the lorry pulled back into the tracks of the ones before it, and I was left to run on snow.
With no space between the now-moving car and the lorry I was tailing, I decided the safest course of action was not to drop back, and impose upon the rather close vehicles from behind me, especially with the risk of attempting to quickly manoeuvre in between them, and instead decided to just maintain a steady pace and overtake the lorry, slotting peacefully back in behind the ones in front, and the one I’d been tailing.
Unfortunately, the heavy snow meant this wasn’t going to happen. Instead, as I continued, the car found it could not cope with the snow, and I lost all traction. This meant I had to now avoid hitting the side of the lorry, which I managed only just by steering into my skid as I’ve been told to do on many occasions. However, a new problem arose from this – the barriers at the side of the road. I had to avoid these. Within the space of one lane of road, I managed to slip and slide a good 200yards, finally passing the lorry… until the car gave up, and spun 180degrees. This meant my car was now on the same side of the road as before, but facing into the patœh of the now-oncoming lorry. Instead of panicking, I simply steered left, so as to shift my back end out the way, knowing full well I had a better chance of surviving if I went into the ditch, rather than trying to steer into the red lorry. As such, I’m writing this post from the side of the road in Dalwhinnie, on the A9, waiting for my mum to phone back with news of a recovery vehicle headed my way, and suffering a large bout of the shakes due to the massive adrenaline rush I’ve just been through. Fuck yer sky-diving, THIS is the real thrills!
It's the new chicken - drift, 180degrees, into the path of the vehicle you just overtook. That'll put some fucking hair on your chest!!!
[this post was written on my trusty macbook ten or so minutes after the event.]
posted by SuperRoo at 09:56
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