Thread: Scary Sunday night accident and reality check

Glad to hear only your fender got jurt.

Last Wednesday i took a call from my wife who had just visited me at work with one of the kids. All i could get out of her between tears was she was ok.

Apparently she was parallel to a truck on the Monash Freeway when she glanced over and saw the load of big industrial bins start to roll off the back and into on coming traffic. If she had have been 1 second behind where she was, one of those bins would have gone straight into the windscreen.

Near misses have a way of putting life into perspective!

Thanks God that the only the car was damaged.

I have been in a similar position when I was driving the big quad road trains up in the pilbura. I just could not handle night shif. Found myself driving down the right hand side of the road one dark night asleep at the wheel with 123 tone of iron ore on bord. That was enough for me and quit few days later.

I am glad that all finished well, the damage in the vehicle it is not important, your life and the life of other people that can be injured in an accident are more important.
When I drive for long hours I have plenty coffee and eat bananas every 2 hours or less. It help me to be alert for 14 hours on the road.
Back in 1973, I have a massive accident for falling sleep when driving to work. The Cortina was complete destroyed together and the toolbox in the boot was flat
I used to work in two jobs eight hours on each

I fell asleep heading out of Broome towards Derby one fine morning about 33 years ago.
Driving into the rising Sun and peering intently through the screen and next moment woke up as the Series 3 bounced around on the rough stuff the other side of the road as I went through a shallow ditch.
In those days there wasn't so much traffic on the road but I'd gone right across the front of the only other car for miles when I nodded off.
He slowed down and just stared probably thanking his lucky stars at a very near miss. I know I did.
Very easy to do when your dead tired after many hours behind the wheel.
AlanH.

Micro sleeps are so frightening - and they don't only happen on long drives. I had one with the whole family in the car, wife + 4 kids....doing a 25min drive home from the city. Woke up partly over the centreline.

State transport authorities have been incorporating rumble strips on major new &redeveloped interstate roads to reduce the occurrence of people driving off the road, or across lanes into oncoming traffic while micronapping.

They're those things that make a hell of a racket in the car when you drive over them.

Glad your ok, me too had a scarey incident when ! was 18, worked night shift then drove 300 kms to go fiashing after work, microed right on a bend in road just before Stradford Vic, woke up to find me doing 360 around and around on the bend and finished in a culvert, do damage to me, car or others. really put the wind up me. Never did it again.
Cheers, Mario