Blowout
The police officer asked me how fast I was going: “I think I was going 110”. “You realise this is a 100 zone?” Crap. Way to go admitting to a cop that I was speeding. In fact, for the entire journey up until the car ended up on its roof on the side of the road I was pretty much averaging 110 anyway, I was in too numb at the time to fabricate a lie. Still, skid marks notwithstanding, there’s no way he could prove I was speeding and, besides, much of the highway from Darwin to Katherine has no speed restrictions so luckily I wasn’t going faster.
Because if I was going faster maybe I would have lost control of the car earlier… maybe…
After the cop had stepped out the length of the skid marks on the road he came back and told me that, in his experience and what information he gathered, it looked like I was ‘gunning it’ more than 110. Earlier on he had referred to me as a ‘boy’ (thanks to my *youthful* complexion) and immediately I got an idea of the kind of person he judged me to be: a reckless young speeding male, he had mentally placed me in THAT demographic. I know that demographic well, I had been in enough cars with lunatic, testosterone fuelled young Katherine male drivers taking all sorts of risks; not a lot, but definitely enough.
A few kilometers down the road, a few moments back in time, I WAS going faster. But not that much faster, it wasn’t like I was ‘gunning it’ at all: I was overtaking and I had hit 120 when the car started to shake. Sensing something wrong I decided to ramp it down to 110 and, knowing that I was only an hour out of town, hoped (foolishly perhaps) that I would make it home to sort it out. At the time of the blow out, I had it in my head that 110 was going to be my maximum speed all the way home. But arguing with the cop wasn’t going to get me anywhere.
There was no acceptable reason why the tyre blew out as they were new and only just replaced a few months ago. But the brand of the tyre was Bridgestone; once the cop and the guys with the tow truck saw this they immediately began to recount stories of other tyre blowouts in the area involving Bridgestone tyres. Apparently Bridgestone tyres are unreliable but knowing this gives me no comfort, they simply shouldn’t have failed.
That being said, as far as tyre blowouts are concerned, this was thankfully a pretty lacklustre event. There was no oncoming traffic. It was a rear tyre, not a front one that blew out. I didn’t panic and slam on the brakes (and I’m really surprised that I didn’t do that!) instead I just kept on telling myself to keep the car on the road as long as possible, which I did, I managed to just miss the large sign on the opposite side of the road. I was wearing a seat belt. I had a satellite phone. The car that I overtook was not that far behind (in my mind, this was the saving grace for the case for me only doing 110 because their car was having problems, too, and they too decided to stick to a reduced speed). The car I was driving was a tank and did not lose any of its structure.
The game of “What If?” is truly a waste of energy. And yet it’s so easy to slip into that mode: Whilst typing the previous paragraph I initially typed by mistake: “I managed to hit the large sign”. Had this actually occurred the outcome would have been much different, and for the worse. Twenty-four hours later and the alternative scenarios (mainly the detrimental ones) still makes their way into my brain. I have to try to focus on what actually happened. Knowing that it could have been a lot worse doesn’t help at all.
I have to remember that it was just a freak accident. I did the best that I could and the car’s sturdiness did the rest. I have to remind myself that I walked away from it without even one scratch.
BTW I unfortunately don’t remember the names of the two people in the car that saw the whole thing, that helped me out and waited with me until the police arrived, but I just want to thank them for being so kind. I’d also like to thank the police officer, the guys with the tow truck, and the firemen for helping out as well, and my Dad for picking me up (he told the people blocking off the road to “fuck off, my son is in there!”) and driving me to Katherine. Thanks to the many people that slowed down to ask if I needed any help (even the random guy that took the opportunity to dump his worn-out shoes on the side of the road). Sorry to all those drivers that had to wait until my car was loaded on the truck.
Tags: Car Accident, Tyre Blowout, Northern Territory, Stuart Highway, Photos.
Because if I was going faster maybe I would have lost control of the car earlier… maybe…After the cop had stepped out the length of the skid marks on the road he came back and told me that, in his experience and what information he gathered, it looked like I was ‘gunning it’ more than 110. Earlier on he had referred to me as a ‘boy’ (thanks to my *youthful* complexion) and immediately I got an idea of the kind of person he judged me to be: a reckless young speeding male, he had mentally placed me in THAT demographic. I know that demographic well, I had been in enough cars with lunatic, testosterone fuelled young Katherine male drivers taking all sorts of risks; not a lot, but definitely enough.
A few kilometers down the road, a few moments back in time, I WAS going faster. But not that much faster, it wasn’t like I was ‘gunning it’ at all: I was overtaking and I had hit 120 when the car started to shake. Sensing something wrong I decided to ramp it down to 110 and, knowing that I was only an hour out of town, hoped (foolishly perhaps) that I would make it home to sort it out. At the time of the blow out, I had it in my head that 110 was going to be my maximum speed all the way home. But arguing with the cop wasn’t going to get me anywhere.
There was no acceptable reason why the tyre blew out as they were new and only just replaced a few months ago. But the brand of the tyre was Bridgestone; once the cop and the guys with the tow truck saw this they immediately began to recount stories of other tyre blowouts in the area involving Bridgestone tyres. Apparently Bridgestone tyres are unreliable but knowing this gives me no comfort, they simply shouldn’t have failed.That being said, as far as tyre blowouts are concerned, this was thankfully a pretty lacklustre event. There was no oncoming traffic. It was a rear tyre, not a front one that blew out. I didn’t panic and slam on the brakes (and I’m really surprised that I didn’t do that!) instead I just kept on telling myself to keep the car on the road as long as possible, which I did, I managed to just miss the large sign on the opposite side of the road. I was wearing a seat belt. I had a satellite phone. The car that I overtook was not that far behind (in my mind, this was the saving grace for the case for me only doing 110 because their car was having problems, too, and they too decided to stick to a reduced speed). The car I was driving was a tank and did not lose any of its structure.The game of “What If?” is truly a waste of energy. And yet it’s so easy to slip into that mode: Whilst typing the previous paragraph I initially typed by mistake: “I managed to hit the large sign”. Had this actually occurred the outcome would have been much different, and for the worse. Twenty-four hours later and the alternative scenarios (mainly the detrimental ones) still makes their way into my brain. I have to try to focus on what actually happened. Knowing that it could have been a lot worse doesn’t help at all.I have to remember that it was just a freak accident. I did the best that I could and the car’s sturdiness did the rest. I have to remind myself that I walked away from it without even one scratch.
BTW I unfortunately don’t remember the names of the two people in the car that saw the whole thing, that helped me out and waited with me until the police arrived, but I just want to thank them for being so kind. I’d also like to thank the police officer, the guys with the tow truck, and the firemen for helping out as well, and my Dad for picking me up (he told the people blocking off the road to “fuck off, my son is in there!”) and driving me to Katherine. Thanks to the many people that slowed down to ask if I needed any help (even the random guy that took the opportunity to dump his worn-out shoes on the side of the road). Sorry to all those drivers that had to wait until my car was loaded on the truck.Tags: Car Accident, Tyre Blowout, Northern Territory, Stuart Highway, Photos.
posted by Jhuny at
3:14 PM
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