Have you ever heard the saying that bad things happen in thirds? Let me be clear from the start, nothing bad happened, and it wasn’t recent.
Working in the transportation industry has allowed me to hear some crazy fun stories involving car accidents, traffic jams, and strange happenings on the road. I was thinking about it the other day and realized that I’ve been lucky all my life not to have a single story to tell. Well, that was until over a year ago, and that’s where we get into the bad things that happen to all three.
Let’s start with story no.
I was driving home from work on I-35 in Des Moines between Ankeny and downtown during rush hour on the expressway. I was following the speed of the traffic when the car in front of me suddenly swerved from the speed limit.
I was confused and thought maybe a tire or other debris was in the middle of the road. However, this was not the case. A car was driving straight at me going 80 miles an hour. I also swerved to the left and avoided any collisions.
A few hours later, I checked the internet and read that there had been a head-on collision two kilometers back from where I met the car. Very unfortunate news, but luckily I avoided a dangerous situation.
Moving on to story No. 2.
It was the middle of January and I was driving home from work again. I was taking Second Avenue from Ankeny to Des Moines, avoiding the intersection after the last nearby event. This time I was talking to my mom on the phone via Apple CarPlay. We were chatting and holding each other when suddenly, we started crying. I kept quiet and my mother asked what on earth that noise was all about.
“The deer just ran over my car, Mom.”
I know that sounds like a weird statement, but I swear a deer hit my car. It ran into my car right next to the driver’s side rear tire. You can’t convince me that it was me who hit the deer. I got ready, and the deer had run away, full antlers and all, leaving only a big dent in my car.
Go to story 3.
I was also driving home from work when a little girl stopped in front of me. I didn’t have a stop sign or anything, but he must not have seen me. I slammed on my brakes almost T-boning him, the nose of my car hitting his driver’s side door. I got out of the car to make sure she was okay, which she was, and she was calling her parents who suggested she call the police. They put us in the parking lot next to them to wait for them.
After a few questions and asking for my license and registration, I was not issued a ticket but was given a warning to renew my registration. Somehow I hadn’t renewed my car registration. I was very surprised and embarrassed even though the policeman did not bother me at all. We concluded that the reminder may have gone to my previous apartment address, and they didn’t send it to me. He seemed even more surprised that I hadn’t been pulled over in a year. I would have to agree with him there.
Fast forward to mid-May, and I was staying at my Aunt and Uncle Treynor’s house in southwest Iowa for my cousin’s high school graduation weekend. The whole family was already at the gym for the start when my brother, Sam, and his girlfriend, Megan, and I piled into my car to go upstairs. Sam jumped in the back and closed the door only for it to open. It wouldn’t lock, so we drove across the country with Sam keeping the door closed. After returning home after the party, uncle and father looked at it and could not find the problem.
A temporary solution was to attach a ratchet strap from one back door to the other to keep it closed.
I took my car to the dealership that week and they found out that something had happened to the door wire. The ratchet strap is gone.
We’ve had an uneventful few months, and hopefully many more. Crossing my fingers that the transport stories only come from the phone at work and have no experience themselves.
#Wagner #Navigating #dangers #road #travel