After about rear ending a VW that about rear ended a truck towing Sea-Doos when he came to a complete stop on a major highway going 60+ mphs, I am damn glad I am alive. I think I lost 5 lbs. out of shock. That was the first time I had to slam on the brakes in my little Prius. The salesman said the brakes stop on a dime. He was right. I hope I never have to do that again. It was like we were pace-lining, too. Very dangerous. We were all very lucky.
I arrive home 1/2 hr later still shook up. Brad heard on the radio the next day about the spot I almost crashed (the exit for the Reading - triple crown race - going south, though). Earlier that day a police officer was setting up a speed trap and got hit. 222 southbound was shut down for 4 hrs after a 3 car pile up occurred after the officer was hit. I came up on the road closure around 7 p.m. where they detoured us off the exit ramp. The cones and a fire police guy were the only things in the road. The guy was standing in the left lane and we had all just moved from the right lane to get around some dufus (little did we know why we he was a dufus - he probably saw the cones) and that's when we went from 60 to zero in 5 seconds. Everything went silent. I poured sweat and my stomach sank. When there were no metal crushing, air bags bursting, I started to breath. My whole body went numb. Then I hope the traffic behind me would stop. The road closure was at a very dangerous spot on a crest bending to the left at an exiting ramp with an other ramp entering the highway. The fire police guy was lucky he didn't get hit, either. No flag, nothing. Just standing in the middle of a 65 mph highway behind small orange cones.
Note to self - drive slower and more focused, especially alone and when I am close to home. I tend to rehash the bike race in my head and the next thing I know, I'm going 80 and drafting a truck. On long drives, I get anxious about getting home and try to push the speed limit envelope.
