Longscape - Cargo Jettison

We have had a rough couple weeks at Longscape in terms of us breaking things. The victim list so far includes:

• Sprinkler head - failure of it to recede back to the ground, resulted in its head being chopped off by the mower
• Two Shovels - snapped at the connection of the shovel head to the handle while removing some azaleas
• Mailbox - Queen would be proud of Giselle's large backside. The safety radius required while mowing is often underestimated. This mailbox suffered a weld-breaking blow off its post as it was knocked to the ground.
• Satellite Cable - coax cable always loses when it goes up against an auger. An attempted splice repair was unsuccessful so the satellite repair man had to be called out. 

The culmination and hopefully the last of all the mishaps happened first thing one morning. We were pulling out of the neighborhood ready to get the day started when I heard a noise outside the truck. I looked in the mirror and noticed one of our orange jack stands rolling across the pavement. We have the jack stands on the trailer to put underneath the back end when we take heavy things, namely Giselle, on and off the trailer. Since it weighs so much this alleviates some of the pressure put on the rear end, hopefully prolonging the life of the trailer. They are rated to hold 3500lbs a piece. I have had them on the trailer for nearly two years and never had any trouble with them. I'm still not sure how it came off. The Billy Goat must have knocked it off in the turn, but I tried to reenact the even when we got home and was unsuccessful.

I told Matt the jack stand has come off and to pull over. I wasn't too worried about it because it was bright orange and thought people could avoid it. I got out of the truck and ran along the side of the road back to the jettison spot. As I was running I noticed cars were not avoiding it as readily as I thought they would. Before I could reach it a Ford Escape ran right into it. There was a terrible noise and I immediately knew there was some damage to the car. The jack came apart into two pieces. I got the first in a break in traffic. Before I could get the second piece it got hit several more times. After gathering up the pieces I looked back towards the truck and noticed the Ford Escape parked in the center lane with the front right tire sitting on the rim. Debating if we should just leave or fess up to the cause of the damage, I knew we had to take responsibility. We always live under the fear of a lawsuit, but I couldn't just leave with this lady stranded.

I walked up to the car amidst all the traffic and saw the woman driver and her daughter in the car. I asked if she was okay and she said yes as she proceeded to tell me what happened to her week old tire not realizing I was with the party responsible. I told her yes I know, I saw the whole thing and it was my "thing" in the road that she hit. Like anyone during rush hour she needed to be somewhere. She was never mad at us but a slight panic set in since her day was being disrupted. I asked if we could change her tire for her. Her spare is located under the back end of her car, but you need the wrench and jack which were in the back cargo area. She then informed me she was moving a bunch of stuff so her car was packed full, blocking the tools. Understandably unsure about letting some random guys who just broke her car try to fix it, she insisted to just call a tow truck. Knowing this would cost lots more money and not save any time, I convinced her we could get it changed. I asked her to give us 5 minutes. This was a bold statement, but it worked. We got to work. We had to unload some stuff to access the tools. Remember, we are still in the center lane in rush hour traffic. We got the spare tire lowered, but we had trouble getting the car jacked up. It was a scissor jack and the arm to turn the lifting screw was not long enough to reach outside the underneath of the car so you couldn't get any torque to turn it. A trip back to the truck's toolbox to get the vise grips took care of the problem. We proceeded to get the tire changed with no more further trouble. It ended up being about a 20 minute process.  Still not too bad given the circumstances. I got the checkbook and settled up with her for buying a new tire. Tough check to write since I knew I would not really make any money the rest of the day. She was very appreciative of us helping and we all went on our way.

Our two jack stands portraying a before and after.

It could have been much worse so it ended up being a good reminder to always check and make sure your equipment is secure before you travel. It was also nice to see that we as humans can still settle a problem on our own without the government, insurance agents, or lawyers. Accidents do happen and since we were honest about our responsibility she did not try to take advantage of us.

Monday Morning Mishap

I rarely take the interstate in the morning. There are about 3 comparable routes to my parents house, and I usually get set on one for a while then I'll switch. In the afternoon, the interstate is always the fastest, so in the morning I usually go one of the other two. Traffic was light on Monday as I pulled out and so got in the turn lane for the interstate. I get onto the interstae from Hwy 31 and from this point on I-459N to the I-65 interchange there are 5 lanes of traffic. I don't have to merge any because the on ramp lane turns into the I-65S exit lane. One lane over is the I-65N exit lane, and the other 3 are through lanes. Traffic was flowing freely in the 3 through lanes, very backed up in the I-65N exit lane, and slow in my lane.

Immediately after I get on, I see people trying to switch positions trying to avoid the backed up exit lane, either to get to my lane or to get to the through lanes. I see a grey SUV pull out of the I-65N exit lane into one of the through lanes moving at a decent speed. She must not have noticed a red sedan was already coming in that lane. The red car slammed on the brakes and veered slightly to the left to try to avoid. Not having enough time the red car hits the SUV and bounces even further into the next lane over where there happens to be a semi-truck. The red car hits the wheels of the semi (miraculously avoiding getting stuck underneath) and bounces off it back into the backed up I-65N exit lane, hitting a black SUV and blue sedan. Writing this it sounds much worse than actually observing it. While scary, there wasn't major damage to any of the cars, and my immediate thought was what a terrible way to start a week. As I get even with the red car I look over and notice the driver appears to be unconscious, thus greatly changing my impression of the accident. I pull over on the shoulder, grab my phone, and run to the car. I get to the window and he is definitely knocked out. The windshield is hard to see though and the side airbag has deployed making it hard to get close to him. He's leaned up against the door, so I don't want to open it to risk moving him. So I try yelling at him. He still doesn't respond. I dial 911. While talking to the dispatcher I notice, no one else has stopped to check on the guy. The other 3 drivers involved, having much less damage are still sitting in their cars talking on the phone, I'm guessing insurance, family, or 911 themselves. I tell the dispatcher where the accident is while trying to figure out a way to get to the guy. Just about then he comes to. He must have gotten knocked out by the airbag. He's dressed in scrubs, so I figure he's in the medical industry. The dispatcher wants to know what the injuries to the guy are, so I hand the phone to him so he can just tell her himself. His arm is a little cut up from the glass, but other than that he's seems to be ok. He doesn't remember anything after running into the semi.

The authorities arrive soon after and take charge. I stick around to give my statement to an officer, then head on my way thankful I wasn't heading north that morning.

Pretty much just below the 459 icon is where the accident took place.