In a Ditch With Fish

It was pouring rain last night as Fish and I drove back from the radio show. As we ascended the "hump" the rain turned to wet snow. By the time we leveled out near the southbound truck brake check area, the road was white with heavy wet snow. At this point you might remember a post I did awhile ago complaining about my underperforming tires.

What happened next was a little surreal. Most of you know me as a pretty cautious, thoughtful guy and this is reflected in my driving (don't laugh). I was going pretty slow - about 40km, maybe a bit less. I began to drift a bit out of the tire tracks onto the pure white stuff and that is when I lost control. Neither Fish nor I said anything at first as the car seemed to drift over where I suspect the centre line was hidden under the snow. Thankfully there were no oncoming vehicles at the time.

The first thing I tried to do was down-shift, 4th to 3rd, to 2nd. I turned the wheel a bit. I gave it a little gas. Nothing seemed to make a difference. Still I said nothing but was thinking, "ok, uh Fish, we're drifting, shifting, wheel, gas, ok, losing control here, sliding, drifting, hold on, uh..." Later, I learned Fish was thinking, "ok, losing control, sliding, get control W, get control W..." and as we neared the ditch we found our voices and were like a chorus of "Whoa, whoa, whoa." It all seemed like it happened in slow motion.

We missed a reflector post by about a foot. I'm not sure if that was good or bad. I guess good, cause I'm sure the momentum would have carried us right over it, but not before leaving a nifty little dent on the passenger side. When we hit the grass and gravel on the shoulder, the back end swung around and we slid front-forward into the ditch. Huh.

After we climbed out and called a tow truck Fish said, "I think that is the safest car accident I have ever been in" and "at least it was a ditch and not a cliff!" So much for all those childish (recent even) jokes about falling off my name. Well, Fish and I are ok, my car seems to be as well, I am fifty bucks poorer (tow truck) and I will be buying some new tires in a couple days. Oh, and props to all the good samaritans out there. Practically everyone who drove by stopped or slowed down and asked if we needed help. One guy even got out while some giggling passengers snapped photos. Fish offered some action shots saying, "He (me) can lie down on the ground for you."

All fun and games until someone drives over a cliff. :I