"Pixel" (Improbcat)
12/16/2013 at 09:43 • Filed to: None
9
9|
"Pixel" (Improbcat)
12/16/2013 at 09:43 • Filed to: None | 9
| 9 |
Was driving to work this morning on 195 near the MA/RI boarder. Traffic slowed due to a RAV4 stopped in the fast lane. The car had no hazards on and one guy standing next to it. So I stopped a bit back from it, put my hazards on, and got out to see if I could help.
Turns out he has a loose electrical connector under the hood that causes the whole car to lose power. So when it died in traffic he popped the hood, hopped out, reset the connector. Then, when he tried to get back in, he discovered that when he reconnected power the doors locked themselves, with the keys in the ignition.
The stretch of 195 he was stuck on is dead straight without any exits for a couple miles, so it is infamous for people doing 80+ on it all the time. So I told him to call 911 and tell them he needed a cop as he was stuck in the fast lane, then stompped through the snow on the shoulder down the road a ways to wave people over.
There were a lot of people speeding, and a lot of people not paying a damn bit of attention. So I got to see a lot of last-minute lane changes, and more than few morons almost pull into the fast lane as they were passing where I was waving.
Then it happened, a car stopped last minute, and the one behind it slammed on the brakes, realized he wasn't going to stop in time, and swerved into the shoulder. Right where I and the other guy were standing. We both ran like hell up the slope and the car missed us by maybe a foot, spraying us both with snow. Then it continued slewing down the shoulder and finally came to a stop about even with the broken down RAV4.
It was so close the other guy had dropped his sunglasses when he started running, and found them later between the tire-tracks of the car that almost hit us.
At that point I moved even further down the shoulder and continued waving cars over until a cop showed up. Both the driver of the RAV4 and the cop thanked me for helping avoid a worse accident and I headed off to work, and got in 25min late. Told the boss what happened and he told me not to worry about making up the time.
My feet are still freezing, and the leftover adrenaline is making it hard to focus on work. So that was my morning, how was yours?
PRBot II
> Pixel
12/16/2013 at 09:48 |
|
Holy cow, glad to hear you didn't get hit!
ADabOfOppo; Gone Plaid (Instructables Can Be Confusable)
> Pixel
12/16/2013 at 09:49 |
|
At least your boss is a human.
Not a lot of people work places that would care you were because you tried to save someone from dying.
AthomSfere
> Pixel
12/16/2013 at 09:51 |
|
No good deed... You get the drift!
Note to self, if ever faced with a car stranded in the fast let... Let some moron hit it. Its not worth the risk to life and limb.
Bruno Martini
> ADabOfOppo; Gone Plaid (Instructables Can Be Confusable)
12/16/2013 at 10:15 |
|
Yeah, my boss busts my balls for 5-10 minute lateness, but expects me to work 2 weekends a month and basically every day I leave late because "shit has to get done" I am starting to believe he wants me to live in the fucking office.
|
Pixel
> ADabOfOppo; Gone Plaid (Instructables Can Be Confusable)
12/16/2013 at 10:19 |
|
Yeah, for all this place's faults. The first level of management at least understands that we are actual people with lives and not just machines.
Deal Killer - Powered by Focus
> Pixel
12/16/2013 at 10:59 |
|
Might I suggest something? I always carry some in my trunk.
BoxerFanatic, troublesome iconoclast.
> Pixel
12/16/2013 at 11:27 |
|
You got away lucky...
A newlywed Army Ranger didn't.
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/1…
BadgerSpeed
> Deal Killer - Powered by Focus
12/16/2013 at 11:52 |
|
Ooooh cool. I want a mini-C130 that shoots pretty starts too! Weeeeeeee
JEM
> Pixel
12/16/2013 at 14:29 |
|
Yikes! I know that stretch of highway, glad you're ok.
Probably a Providence driver ;-)