Public encounters

[Ritz413]

When I was still working, I drove 70 miles each way from Terre Haute to Indianapolis on I-70. An old friend of mine owned a trucking company that basically put drivers and shippers together all over the US. He told me the stretch of highway I drove was the most dangerous drive in the entire country. And I told him I 100% believe him.

Every single day for 8 years there was some kind of crazy accident or some crazy driver causing problems. I saw a semi driving with the entire trailer engulfed in flames. Sheets of stainless steel about 4' x 6' flying out of the side of a trailer through a huge gaping hole where a skid fell over, and these sheets were flying through the air like giant playing cards, and 4 lanes if traffic doing 70+ mph behind him. 12" x 12" x 2 foot long blocks of wood unsecured and flying off a flatbed, and I was nearly ran off the road a dozen or more times by people trying to merge into me. One crazy sob passed me in 12" of snow on 465 (the loop around Indy) and did a 360° spin and plastered his car against the left side retaining wall, missing me in a Hyundai Accent by inches.

These days, my disability basically has me homebound. I kinda prefer not to socialize with the public anyway, and that includes my neighbors, and even some of my own familiy for various reasons. I hate drama, and drama seems to be the way of the world these days. Going to the doc stresses me out so bad, by the time I get there they want to put me on blood pressure meds. No thanks. My blood pressure medication is my recliner and a locked door.

I go to some lengths to keep the neighbors at bay when I have to be out in the driveway, exposed to the world. Usually to work on the car etc. I don't drink at all these days. When i have a car project coming up that I want to get through without being bothered....I grab a six pack of the most convincing looking n/a beer and start drinking those and tossing the empties around the driveway for a effect at about 8am.

 

[Cranberry Juice]

When I was still working, I drove 70 miles each way from Terre Haute to Indianapolis on I-70. An old friend of mine owned a trucking company that basically put drivers and shippers together all over the US. He told me the stretch of highway I drove was the most dangerous drive in the entire country. And I told him I 100% believe him.

Every single day for 8 years there was some kind of crazy accident or some crazy driver causing problems. I saw a semi driving with the entire trailer engulfed in flames. Sheets of stainless steel about 4' x 6' flying out of the side of a trailer through a huge gaping hole where a skid fell over, and these sheets were flying through the air like giant playing cards, and 4 lanes if traffic doing 70+ mph behind him. 12" x 12" x 2 foot long blocks of wood unsecured and flying off a flatbed, and I was nearly ran off the road a dozen or more times by people trying to merge into me. One crazy sob passed me in 12" of snow on 465 (the loop around Indy) and did a 360° spin and plastered his car against the left side retaining wall, missing me in a Hyundai Accent by inches.

These days, my disability basically has me homebound. I kinda prefer not to socialize with the public anyway, and that includes my neighbors, and even some of my own familiy for various reasons. I hate drama, and drama seems to be the way of the world these days. Going to the doc stresses me out so bad, by the time I get there they want to put me on blood pressure meds. No thanks. My blood pressure medication is my recliner and a locked door.

Yeah, I70 is horrible. My dad and I went to Indy when I needed driving hours, and once we hit I70 he told me to pull over and switch with him because he was going to drive. I didn't know how bad it was until about 20 seconds, when somebody almost hit us while he was accelerating on the shoulder because they decided to use it as a personal express lane. I'm gonna end up with high blood pressure by 50 if I think about this too much, and I have *ugh* algebra 2 now, so bye!

 

[Ritz413]

I have to venture out again at some point today. Hopefully it will be uneventful....we just don't know,lol

 

[Cranberry Juice]

On a more positive note, I just stopped at I80! It's an hour away from my grandparents house, so it's quite convenient.

 

[WickedFog]

Yeah, I70 is horrible. My dad and I went to Indy when I needed driving hours, and once we hit I70 he told me to pull over and switch with him because he was going to drive. I didn't know how bad it was until about 20 seconds, when somebody almost hit us while he was accelerating on the shoulder because they decided to use it as a personal express lane. I'm gonna end up with high blood pressure by 50 if I think about this too much, and I have *ugh* algebra 2 now, so bye!

Most of the really bad accidents are semi drivers falling asleep. There was usually a FedEx truck involved. Not even joking. The worst I saw was a FedEx truck that went off the interstate and up a steep hill and through about 10 trees. all 8" around or bigger. Another semi went off the highway just before a guardrail on the left side and the dropoff he went down was about 100' below the highway. I bet he was in the air most of the way down. That was a quarter mile before the FedEx truck. That stretch of I-70 between the Putnamville exit and the Cloverdale exit is like the Bermuda Triangle for semi trucks.