My son stopped to help a lady whose Saturn had stalled on the highway. The road had a wide shoulder and she was well off the right lane of traffic on the shoulder. My son backed up to her car and parked with half the truck (97 Nissan Pickup) off the shoulder into the grass.
He found that she had run out of oil. About that time, a driver of an F350 drifted completely onto the shoulder and hit the back of the Saturn squarely at highway speed and rammed it into the truck. My son got out of the way just in time, but the driver wasn’t so lucky, she was between the Saturn and my truck. Both the driver and the passenger who was sitting in the Saturn were alive but unconscious when they were take away by ambulance.
We are praying for the driver but we don’t know who she is or what hospital she was taken to. The whole back end of the Saturn was pushed into the back seat and the front end of the Saturn was shoved under the truck. The driver was somehow thrown up on top of the Saturn before it went under the truck so she wasn’t crushed but thrown quite a distance. The front seat area of th Saturn was intact with plenty of room so I guess that is a good sign.
The driver of the truck was a young girl, and of course, no insurance.
Sorry to hear this. The shoulders are so dangerous to be on. People drift into it behind a truck unable to see beyond it. And you routinely see people driving half on the shoulder. If I can’t get off the highway, I would leave my car and walk away. Better to call a tow truck, not worth getting killed.
There are too many distractions in the drivers seat. When I drive my wife’s new Rav4, there are so many buttons, the vehicle itself becomes a distraction. I am terrified to be parked on the side of the road for this reason. In my daily commute on a road with little traffic, most drivers fail to move over to the center lane when there is a car parked on the shoulder. They just go blazing by 80 mph just feet away from a stopped car.
Unfortunately this happens frequently. The fire dept will use a truck as a blocker to protect the crews working on a road, even with flashing lights the trucks will get hit. Glad your son is OK, prayers for the injured.
I got a flat on I495 during rush-hour traffic…I drove to the next exit (about 1/2 mile ahead) and pulled off the highway. I ruined a tire, but I’m still alive. That is not a great place to be during rush-hour
I’ve had a couple tire blow outs on the highway. Both times I kept crawling to the next exit on the flat. I had steel rims so they weren’t ruined. I wouldn’t stop on the ramp either, get all the way off to a safe spot. I’d rather buy the new rim and tire than risk getting hit.
specially im MA where driving in the breakdown lane is allowed in some places and times. Some drivers take that as an invitation to drive in the breakdown lane whenever the traffic is heavy.
I do…but only when getting off at the next exit. And I rarely pass anyone…unless they are going well below the speed limit. I agree it’s a dumb law. I-93 is the only place I know it’s allowed…and only during certain hours depending on the direction you’re going.
Sorry to hear about it but hopefully everyone will recover. I don’t understand how this happens but more than once a person trying to help has been hit, including the patrol. Once by the airport I saw a DOT truck that had been clobbered. Evidently they didn’t see the flashing lights and crash boxes on the back and ran right into it.
My father-in-law told my wife (and her 2 siblings) to never stop on the roadside with a flat. Drive the car slowly and safely to where it’s safe to get out and he will pay for any additional damage done to the tire, rim, car, whatever. His family more valuable to him. CSA
We have companies advertising here in NH and MA that try to sell the MINIMUM insurance you need by law. If you have any assets to protect, you need to get good insurance…and underinsured insurance to cover the jerks that have the minimum and don’t have any assets. One good accident and you could be facing medical bankruptcy.
I’m really, really sorry to hear about your son’s experience, Keith. Hopefully the owner of the Saturn and her passenger will come out of this experience without too much ongoing pain or disability.
The shoulder of the highway is–unfortunately–a very dangerous place at times, due to texting, inebriation, or other factors that are incompatible with driving. It’s just a damn shame that your son’s “reward” for helping a motorist in distress was an accident like this.
I will say a prayer for the swift recovery of those two women from the Saturn.
My first question is, how does someone get her hands on an F350 without having insurance? Just fuel for the thing costs as much as a reasonable insurance payment.
I suppose, based on some people’s logic, we should all start driving F450s to protect us from these kinds of idiots.
Insurance is optional here in NH. And t he person may have the MINIMUM insurance which in NH is $50k liability. A good (aka BAD) accident can easily run medical costs well past $200k.
