Black Ice - What Lies Beneath

In the past, I've sometimes found writing this blog to be therapeutic and a viable way to work through whatever issues that may have been plaguing my thoughts at that particular time...
I hope this helps me, today....

Without revealing my chronological age, I can verify that I've been driving for quite some time.  Living in Canada, you learn to drive a vehicle in several different ways to successfully combat the several different road conditions you may encounter in any given season.  Springtime tends to bring a lot of rain, causing roads to be slick and wet during the day, only to turn icy at night when the mercury drops below zero ℃.  Summer isn't too bad, I've found, but as soon as the leaves turn colour and the snow begins to fly, that's when we, driver's need to be more weary.

Black ice is our worst enemy.  It's the thin layer of ice that blankets the road, which is nearly impossible to see with the naked eye, unless you're lucky enough to catch a faint glimmer of it.  A faint reflection of ice crystals catching the light at just the right angle, bouncing back to your pupil.  Most, sadly, ignore this and continue to drive just as they had been all summer long.  I've always credited myself as a better driver than these kinds of people.  I've always considered myself a better driver than most people, even on my worst day.  Last week, I had the absolute worst day of my driving career.

I'm not saying that I've never had an accident.  I've had a few misfortunes in my life.  I once lost control and crashed a small Chevrolet Chevette into a row of parked cars.  That was a terrible accident and I was severely injured at the time.  Most people, upon seeing the damage done to the car, questioned how I wasn't hurt more seriously.  It was a nasty one, I will admit, but afterward, I had no qualms about sitting behind the wheel.

This accident that I had on Thursday night/Friday morning, was unlike anything I've ever experienced.  I can say, beyond a reasonable doubt, that I'm afraid to drive.  I ventured out Sunday, but I was frightened by the aggressive drivers around me.  The big 4x4 trucks speeding up behind me.  I thought for sure, one of them were going to corral me into the ditch.  Last night I ventured out to buy some milk, which took me about four hours to get up the courage, as it'd been raining all day long.  The temperature was above zero℃, so there wasn't any icing issues, but it has snowed overnight and there are some errands that I sloughed off yesterday, that need to be done today.  As I look out the window, I can visibly see the ice and snow compiled on the city streets.  I don't know if I can go out in that...  Worse yet, I have to work tonight, which means venturing out in the cold winter night and driving that same route, passing that same corner where I lost complete control last week and slammed into the side of that silver GMC.

It took me about four hours to gain the courage to drive to the corner store for milk, yesterday.  I dread having to go to work, tonight...

I see on television, people who suffer severe anxiety following a terrible accident, and I've always mocked them.  Now I'm feeling about the same way.  I was feeling worthless before this occurred.  I feel even worse, now. 😣

I never found this to be therapeutic, this time 'round.
In fact, I feel a little worse off, now...

Up Close & Impersonal

Tailgaters have always been a concern for me, and I'm not talking about the team fanatics who party and whoop it up in the parking lots of their favourite sports team's stadiums.  Although, I must admit that anyone willing to paint their bare chests in team colours for the minuscule chance of jiggling their poorly proportioned bodies for fifteen seconds of national fame, does make me question their sanity.

What does concern me, however, are the countless assholes who think it necessary (and safe) to follow the vehicle in front of them all too closely.  I see this occur all the time and it bugs me.  When it happens to me, then I get real concerned, spending more time watching them in my mirror than watching the traffic in front of me.  Having suffered a car accident years ago which left me with severe whiplash, to this day, when the mercury drops, the soreness and aggravation in my neck, rises.

In the summertime, the remedy is simple.  I tap my brakes and watch the fun ensue.  More times than not, the tailgater will slam on their breaks, sometimes even losing some control over their speeding vessel.  One fella, years ago, I remember, swerved and drove into the guard rail to his left.  I snickered as I continued my travels, while he stood outside his car, assessing the damage.  Did I feel guilty?  F*ck no!  If he hadn't been traveling so close, I would never have had the need to teach him this valuable lesson.

Winter time is another story.  It seems like, around here anyway, that even though we live with winter conditions four to five months out of the calendar year, people forget how to drive on snow and ice.  They think that the same rules of physics apply to them whether the ground is heated from the summer sun or frozen solid with black ice hidden under the freshly fallen snow.  This past Wednesday was the first snowfall of the year, and I heard about, at least, a couple dozen accidents, ranging from small fender benders to vehicles flipping over in the ditch.  I never heard about any fatalities, but I wouldn't be surprised if there were.  There's no doubt in my mind that half of these incidents were the result of assholes following too closely.

What really freaked me out, occurred about two hours ago.  I was traveling home, when a big rig, an eighteen wheeler semi-truck pulled in behind me in the left-hand lane, narrowly missing my rear bumper, no less.  The guy continued to tailgate me for the next couple of miles.  As I (dangerously) increased my velocity in an attempt to increase the distance between our two significantly different vehicles, he matched my speed, maintaining what I can only estimate was about two car lengths.  A semi-truck need A LOT MORE room than that to come to a complete stop, in an idea scenario.  On the other hand, traveling at 90km/h on ice, you may as well start writing my obituary, because I don't think the quality of life after being rundown by a Freightliner would be very enjoyable.

Back-and-forth, my eyes darted.  Back-and-forth, between my rear view mirror and the road in front of me.  Finally, I noticed that some reasonable distance between us had accrued, only to be filled with more vehicles.  Now, if it were necessary to slam on my brakes, I'd be rear ended by a Toyota, an F-150 and a motherf*cking Freightliner.  That'd really make my birthday next week a memorable one.

Finally, the lucky timing of traffic lights separated us for good, like conjoined twins going their separate ways at an amusement park.  I'm sure this won't be the last time, of course.  We're only two days into the cold stuff and I'm a fairly youthful fella, so I'm sure I have another thirty of forty years of assholes who can potentially injure, maim or kill me.  Crossing my fingers that I'll dodge that bullet, too.