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the car speed off at probably 80+ mph I realized the driver was drunk by the way the car veered in and out of the travel lane. I immediately called the highway patrol ! and gave them the essentials. No sooner than I had hung up The SUVs in front off me took heavy evasive action veering from travel lane almost to the shoulder. Thankfully I was doing my part following a safe distance behind.

It still was almost not enough. The little car that I had reported had hit the guard rail of a bridge on the travel side, stripped the guard rail all the way out and over, halfway into the passing lane. Then the car pinball to the opposite barrier and back again to the travel side coming to rest backwards facing traffic. I got safely shut down, set my hazards and jumped out with a fire extinguisher and my cell phone. Sprinting back to the accident, a good 500 yards, I called 911 and reported the accident. I came within 5 feet of the driver side and could immediately smell the alcohol on the woman. The fact that she was even alive amazed me. The other couple in the SUV arrived at that time. We started flagging traffic until EMS arrived and secured the scene.

I like to think that my training saved my life that night because before becoming a commercial driver I would have been far to close to the SUV and would not have been able to avoid the crash. As it was, it was a near thing, the fifth wheel I was transporting was 38 feet in length and weighed about 13,500 net itself. Road safety is a responsibility everyone should share, but that is rarely the case.

Learn more about this author, Garet Harris.
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