Saturday, January 23, 2010

Ghoulish, I Suppose



I had another post planned for today, but I spent the afternoon sitting on the organ bench looking out the living room window and wandering in the yard in the rain watching all the excitement. A pickup went into the river about 300 (?) feet up the road and across the river from my mom's house (directly across from my brother's house).

I don't know if anyone was hurt or not. I certainly hope not, but it would be a miracle if someone wasn't. (I hope it was a good sign that the EMT's never put anyone into the ambulance. Of course, another ambulance could have already been there and gone by the time I noticed anything was going on.)

The pickup truck went over one of the many steep banks on along the river and of course rolled. It was on its wheels with the front end wedged up against a rock as tall and wide as the pickup. It was in the water but right at the edge.

Why am I posting this? Because, there is a wreck along this very stretch of highway at least once every six months if not more often.

Theoretically, there shouldn't be any wrecks along this stretch. It is one of the few straight stretches along the river. There are no blind spots. There is a grade, but it isn't steep. This stretch of highway has two wide lanes with good wide shoulders. One does need to watch for rocks and animals, but that is a given in all mountainous areas.

Why are there wrecks? My theory is this particular wreck was caused by hydroplaning or the driver went to sleep. (I could be wrong.) But really, why wrecks? Because people get in a hurry. It they are headed north, they're going down hill and probably travelling way too fast. If they are headed south, they just came out of several miles of narrow twisting road. They speed up and lose control. And, of course everyone tries to pass everyone else.

Why did I post this? Because I'd would like to ask everyone to slow down and drive safely. Also, please remember - don't use cruise control unless the pavement it perfectly dry.

I like my friends to be alive and unhurt. HUGS

7 comments:

Madeline's Album said...

I too hope no one was hurt. It is terrible when something like this happens. Like you said please drive careful all the time not only when the weather is bad. Have a pleasant day. Madeline

Auntie sezzzzzz... said...

Excellent post. We all need to have reminders of the use of common sense.

But you know what they say about common sense... It isn't very common.

Vee said...

You must've had more than your share of those particular views...how scary. Yes, we have a "straight stretch" in our corner as well. And, just as you point out, there are many accidents there for all the same reasons. Hope that the remainder of your weekend is less eventful.

Betsy said...

Yikes, I hope no one was hurt too!

myletterstoemily said...

thanks for the reminder to be safe and wise.

The Songster said...

Oh man, and Dad missed it! He will be so disappointed! I mean, it's not a fire, but still he gets to direct traffic and drive the truck! LOL.

Barb said...

Hi, thanks for the nice comment you left me. She is cute . . . love those grandbabies!

I don't know where you are in Idaho, but it seems like if there's a river, people seem to drive into it. I think it's so easy to get complacent about what they are suppose to be doing. Simply not paying attention was probably the culprit. I hope no one was hurt, it's a good wake-up call for all of us. It looks really beautiful where you are, maybe they were taking in the scenery. We all need to pay more attention - I wonder if cell phones or texting was involved? Anyway, have a great day!