vjd3

Thanks for the thoughts. Feeling very lucky, indeed.

I prefer the Merritt myself, actually. We are playing a Boston Harbor cruise Friday and, as it happens, down in Teaneck NJ on Saturday, so I'll be making the drive again ... something my wife is not thrilled about, but, you know, there are big rigs all around us, and it could happen anywhere. Will be watching to see what develops, why the wheel came loose, if the truck was properly inspected, driver licensed, and so forth. Didn't the Obama administration recently sign off on Mexican trucks being allowed on U.S. roads? Tonight, that scares me. Not to go all off topic, but they are big vehicles and while due to GPS tracking you rarely see them speeding much anymore, but I actually had an aggressive trucker refuse to allow me to merge ahead of him onto an onramp in Baltimore earlier today, he accelerated and swung that thing in front of me to emphasize his point.

pcarhombre

Not to derail this cogent wake-up call, but many years ago a friend who was the equipment manager for J. Geils Blues Band out of Boston was heading for a gig somewhere. He was a great driver, bypassing the ubiquitous party favors because when he was on the job, he was on the job. The kind of guy you would want to drive your mother to her doctor's appointment..no matter how un-straight he looked. Well long story short, as he was driving along the highway, a tractor trailer in the other lane hit the guard rail ahead of him and the tire and wheel was severed off and flew directly into his windshield hitting him squarely in the face. The angels must have been on duty that day because despite his serious injuries, Jesse not only lived to tell about it, his outlook on life became a clarion call to live right because you never know when it will all be taken away. Glad you dodged a bullet on this one!

95_993

Vic

That's scary stuff!! Glad to hear you r ok. You are very fortunate.

It's sad for the other driver as this is truly a random and bizarre event.

I drive the Boston to NJ route across the GW all the time (prefer the Merritt as well). It's can be a very dangerous section of road given the # of POS cars and other random crap along that stretch....you really have to be on your toes all the time.

aj986s

Wow. Sorry about the woman who perished, but kudos to your avoidance skills.

You never know.......

vjd3

No wonder it looked so big ...



More updated story, as well. The poor woman was on her way to dog sit.

http://www.lohud.com/article/2011081...wheels-hit-car

chsu74

I saw a northbound tractor trailer flip over about one mile north of that spot around noon on Sunday when it was raining really hard past exit 2 in CT. 3 minutes earlier while traveling south bound, a souped up Scion lost it doing a 720 spin and hitting the center median 25 yards in front of me. The only thing that was going through my mind at time is that I don't want to own a Uhaul van because I just declined insurance on a Uhaul van while avoiding that mess.

That is a bad piece of road because of construction on the bridge on the New York side. The road on that bridge is in such a bad shape because it is so heavily traveled. The wheels probably got jarred loose because of the many bumps and potholes there. I am glad they are working on the bridge now.

ilko

That is one of of the worst roads in the area, I just drove it yesterday. Glad you are safe and sound but too bad about the woman who was killed...

g_murray

Saw this on the news yesterday.

Unbelievable timing.

Live life to the fullest is my mantra, even though I get 'schtick' from all and sundry for not ever 'sitting still'.

Lilft your head and give a quick nod/salute to THE BIG GUY upstairs.

Gerry

FisterD

Very glad you are ok Vic. I feel bad for the other people involved.
I have a commercial license and drove a truck in the past, they are huge vehicles that can cause a lot of damage if not serviced and driven properly. When I see some of the guys out there that do it everyday, I get a little worried sometimes.

speedbump2

Wow! Very lucky that you saw it coming and had the presence of mind to take evasive action.
And very sad about the woman that didn't make it.

Showed this post to one of my coworkers, and he said: "That guy is one lucky M-Fer! He should go out and buy some lottery tickets!"

--Chuck--

Academictech

Sad story, glad you were not injured.

I have to drive that route at least a dozen times a year...it's always littered with car and truck parts and seemingly endless traffic jams. I usually head up to Tarrytown and use Tappan Zee along with either Merritt into central CT or Sawmill into W. CT....it's longer and slower...but less stressful....the parkways can have their ups and downs but at least the rigs are not around.

NC TRACKRAT

Your good reflexes and The Man Uptairs saved your bacon. One more reason to keep on doing the DE thing....Keeps the reflexes and periferal vision in tune.

ryano

Holy crap... Those are huge. Glad you avoided the tragedy...rip to the poor lady

budge96

Luckily it just wasn't your day to go,unfortunately it was her's, that and the fact that you must have some
mad reflex reaction skills...

1pcarnut

Not much to add that hasn't been said, glad your okay, very sad for the lady.