I only blog about this, because I had my camera with me and was able to take a picture.
We were driving to a neighboring town for a soccer game a week ago, we were headed Northbound on the interstate. Matthias was in the passenger seat, giving me the scoop on his day. The boys were absorbed playing action figures in the back seat. I was focused on the road in the distance, driving, listening to Matthias. I saw a semi truck, driving southbound, cross the median into our lane of traffic. He crossed at an angle and began driving up the hill to the right of us. This didn't last long, seconds really, he rolled and a big cloud of dust came out from under him. I screamed when I saw him tip. An exit happened to be right there, as if it were meant for us. We took it and parked as close to the semi as we could get. Matthias got out and ran up the hill, others stopped too. I didn't have service on my cell, but waved a passer-by down and had them call 911. As Matthias approached, he smelled and saw fuel leaking from the semi. He had visions of exploding semis, but decided to climb up on top of the door and see what condition the driver was in. Another man who stopped to help handed Matthias a crow bar and he was able to pry the door open. After seeing that the driver was okay, Matthias tried to help him out. He had to cut his seatbelt to get him out. The trucker wanted to stay inside and look for his cat. He couldn't find the cat. Yikes. Soon, there were lots of helpers, the sirens were in hearing distance, so we decided to leave to make it to the soccer game.
At the game, our team numbers were low. Only about 1/2 of the team came. Part way into the game, a dad of two of the absent players came to bring the after game snack. He explained that his wife and twins were in a car the the semi almost hit. His wife had to swerve to avoid the trucker, and a piece of the truck came off and hit their windshield. They were too traumatized to come to the game.
Apparently the trucker reported he was coughing and blacked out and the next thing he knew, he was up-side-down. Our fellow soccer parent that was almost hit thinks he fell asleep and said this to avoid a heavy penalty. She thinks that either way, he shouldn't be on the road.
So scary. You always assume that if you drive responsibly and cautiously, you will be safe. But what about all the other drivers on the road?
