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| Photo credit: Crunkish |
When one's husband drives a '96 Ford Explorer with a temperamental transmission, the last thing she wants but always expects is a call at 10:30 on a Friday night informing her that he is broke down. Only it's not the transmission; it's a blown tire. And he is on the interstate.
As soon as he called me, I was up and grabbing my pocketbook ready to rescue him. "No," he says. "I am going to change the tire. I just wanted to let you know where I was."
I can hear the traffic whizzing by. Granted he WAS on the interstate, but still. It sounded too close. Also, the blown tire was the front driver-side. This bit of information sent me into a fit of oh-my-g-he-going-to-be-killed-and-I'll-have-to-raise-these-kids-alone-with-no-father. IJUSTKNOWIT.
To add insult to potential injury, the tire had to blow next to a LONG guardrail AND five miles from the exit.
He did manage to move the truck further up the road so he could pull over properly. Then the jack-lugnut-looser-upper broke and there was nothing he could do.
I had to come to the rescue.
After some creative juggling, mostly consisting of me having to drive him to work this morning as I needed the car*, I procured a brandnew lugnut-looser-upper, picked him up from work, whereas he was able to change the tire in the light of day and a torrential downfall. Ironic being we haven't had a good rain in about three weeks. Oddly enough, it didn't rain at our house.
As I sat in the car behind the truck with the emergency lights on, I watched the traffic. I lost count of how many times people COULD have moved to the inside lane, but didn't.
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| Why not move for everyone? |
Sadly, the Move Over law (in Tennessee) does not extend to personal vehicles. As I watched my husband struggle with sub-par tools** in the pouring rain and road-spray, I just knew any second something would catch and he'd accidentally fall back into the lane of traffic.
I propose that we as drivers should really look out for one another. I have always tried to move over when I see any sort of activity on the side of the road. Sure, we are all in a hurry, but a quick lane change may prevent the unthinkable from happening.
Photo Credit: Tennessee Department of Safety
*For those of you that knew about the book sale today, that was not the reason I needed the car. Nice benefit, but not the reason.|
**I am going to take the money I WAS going to spend on a tow truck and buy some better car tools. He just doesn't know it yet.
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4 comments:
These are very good tips! Sadly, I had a friend die from being hit after his car was pulled over on the side of the road. Thankfully, he was not a super close friend - I had only met him a few months prior - but his death could have been prevented.
Please people - if a cop is on the side of the road, go to the other lane. If you are driving in construction, don't text. DRIVE SAFE and save lives!
I agree! Common courtesy & safety FIRST. We shouldn't need a law. Seriously, people, when something unusual is happening on either side of the road, interstate, parking lot, alley, slow down. Move to another lane if you can. Think of the person as a person and not an inconvenience. Hands on the wheel, eyes on the road. Good tips!
Totally agree with you. I was taught that by my Dad when he was teaching me to drive and I ALWAYS move over no matter what the situation on the side of the road.
OMG. To get that call would drive me batty! I probably would have eaten my weight in carbs from the stress. NC has the Move Over rule and as far as I can tell, it's catching on. So glad everything worked out for you and your family!
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