What happened Friday night, March 5, 2010, was the scariest thing that ever happened to me as a driver. It is one of those things that every driver faces but you can never really train for it. You are taught basic things to remember but you can’t practice it. Only when it happens can you rely on instincts and just a little bit of luck. And, I believe in my case, divine intervention. And that’s getting into a skid. In my case, it was a double skid on black ice.
We had stopped in Billings, MT, for fuel, food and showers. Larry was a little concerned because he had been monitoring the weather and it looked like we could be headed for snow and possible freezing rain. I wasn’t too worried. It’s not like I didn’t know how to drive in snow.
We took off after it got dark. We take the highway 212 cut-off from I-90 which eventually meets up with
I-90 down in S. Dakota. It cuts off about 50 miles. It was smooth sailing for an hour or so and then I started noticing a skiff of snow along side the road. The roads were still in good shape. One thing we watch for is the water spray from the tires and if it looks like sand or salt has been put down. Everything looked fine. A little bit of snow was on the roads but the traffic ahead of me was making tracks so I wasn’t worried. I did slow it down to about 45-50. Then the roads got better and I pretty much ignored the tiny bit of drizzle on the windshield, even though the temperature was showing 30 degrees. Then I crossed the Wyoming border.
I was noticing how dark and quiet the road was. Maybe one truck went past west bound. I was feeling pretty secure about the roads. I didn’t see anything to indicate any problems. I sped up to 60, though not on cruise, thankfully. Then I turned a slight corner with a very slight rise and found myself heading in the wrong direction. My “lost traction” symbol began flashing on my dashboard. Instinctively I turned into the skid but then the truck headed in the other direction, into the other lane and heading for the edge of the road. I turned into that skid as I let off the throttle but did not put on the brakes. I didn’t think that truck would ever slow down. Somehow I was able to ease it over to the right side of the road and park it. And then the shaking started. I couldn’t stop shaking. Larry popped out of the bunk wondering why I had stopped and found a blubbering hysterical wife. I finally blurted out, “I almost killed you!!” He finally got me to tell him that I had hit black ice and almost ended up in the ditch. He was so sweet. “But dear, everything’s fine. We’re still upright!” Yes, we were and that’s the miracle of the whole thing. It took at least a half hour before I stopped shaking.
He tried taking it on up the hill and that was when we noticed flashing lights from other vehicles on up ahead. He couldn’t do more than 15 miles an hour and once we passed the group of 3 cars and 1 big rig, we realized that we weren’t going to get any further ourselves. In fact he couldn’t get the truck over to the shoulder. We had spun out. He climbed out and literally skated as he put a couple of chains on, which helped us get over to the side of road.
Then we noticed flashing lights up ahead and realized that other trucks were parked on the side of the road as well. We figured we were there for the night until the sand trucks came, if they ever would.
So we went to sleep, or at least I tried. I would wake up from nightmares and wondering if we were safe parked where we were. Amazingly, there were a few cars and a few trucks that seemed to be able to maneuver the roads, but I don’t know who they did it.
As the sky lightened, we decided to try the hill again. But we were stopped at the top by a Highway Patrol car saying that no-one was going anywhere and that sand trucks were on their way. About 15 minutes later they did arrive and we were able to make our way once again.
We had stopped in Billings, MT, for fuel, food and showers. Larry was a little concerned because he had been monitoring the weather and it looked like we could be headed for snow and possible freezing rain. I wasn’t too worried. It’s not like I didn’t know how to drive in snow.
We took off after it got dark. We take the highway 212 cut-off from I-90 which eventually meets up with
I-90 down in S. Dakota. It cuts off about 50 miles. It was smooth sailing for an hour or so and then I started noticing a skiff of snow along side the road. The roads were still in good shape. One thing we watch for is the water spray from the tires and if it looks like sand or salt has been put down. Everything looked fine. A little bit of snow was on the roads but the traffic ahead of me was making tracks so I wasn’t worried. I did slow it down to about 45-50. Then the roads got better and I pretty much ignored the tiny bit of drizzle on the windshield, even though the temperature was showing 30 degrees. Then I crossed the Wyoming border.
I was noticing how dark and quiet the road was. Maybe one truck went past west bound. I was feeling pretty secure about the roads. I didn’t see anything to indicate any problems. I sped up to 60, though not on cruise, thankfully. Then I turned a slight corner with a very slight rise and found myself heading in the wrong direction. My “lost traction” symbol began flashing on my dashboard. Instinctively I turned into the skid but then the truck headed in the other direction, into the other lane and heading for the edge of the road. I turned into that skid as I let off the throttle but did not put on the brakes. I didn’t think that truck would ever slow down. Somehow I was able to ease it over to the right side of the road and park it. And then the shaking started. I couldn’t stop shaking. Larry popped out of the bunk wondering why I had stopped and found a blubbering hysterical wife. I finally blurted out, “I almost killed you!!” He finally got me to tell him that I had hit black ice and almost ended up in the ditch. He was so sweet. “But dear, everything’s fine. We’re still upright!” Yes, we were and that’s the miracle of the whole thing. It took at least a half hour before I stopped shaking.
He tried taking it on up the hill and that was when we noticed flashing lights from other vehicles on up ahead. He couldn’t do more than 15 miles an hour and once we passed the group of 3 cars and 1 big rig, we realized that we weren’t going to get any further ourselves. In fact he couldn’t get the truck over to the shoulder. We had spun out. He climbed out and literally skated as he put a couple of chains on, which helped us get over to the side of road.
Then we noticed flashing lights up ahead and realized that other trucks were parked on the side of the road as well. We figured we were there for the night until the sand trucks came, if they ever would.
So we went to sleep, or at least I tried. I would wake up from nightmares and wondering if we were safe parked where we were. Amazingly, there were a few cars and a few trucks that seemed to be able to maneuver the roads, but I don’t know who they did it.
As the sky lightened, we decided to try the hill again. But we were stopped at the top by a Highway Patrol car saying that no-one was going anywhere and that sand trucks were on their way. About 15 minutes later they did arrive and we were able to make our way once again.
