A number of vehicles have gone in the ditch over the years, but as the ditch is deep and narrow none have damaged my fence until now. It took a semi truck to do it.
The accident happened about 10 minutes before I discovered it. I went out to find the driver was not hurt. He said he had been going 15 to 20 mph and when he saw an oncoming car moved over slightly. Once his wheels went off the road there was nothing he could do. He shut off the truck's engine as it started to tip over. The accident happened in the same place as most - where the road straightens out from the bend at my driveway entrance.
The driver was from Florida and his trailer was full of insulation for the business down the road. The driver was not dressed for winter as he was wearing the shorts they wear these days - the pants that go down to a person's knees.
Two vehicles coming from the other direction had stopped. The drivers were related. Eventually the young mother and kids left and the parents stayed in their pickup. The driver got on his cell phone to call his company. He also had contacted the highway patrol. I spoke with his insurance company on his phone and got their 1-800 number and the claim number. The agent said an insurance adjuster would call me in a day or two about compensation for my flattened fence. I have yet to hear from the adjuster.
The highway patrol showed up a half hour or so later. Apparently while the patrol car was sitting there a woman driving a jeep from the other direction drove off the road on the other side. The guy who was waiting in his pickup pulled her out. The semi driver was in the patrol car when the accident happened and we asked the semi driver what the patrol officer said as he never got out when the woman went into the ditch. Apparently the officer just looked over at the jeep and said "Dumbass" and went back to writing the semi driver a ticket.
The semi driver got a ticket for careless driving and a $85 fine and two points on his driver's license. He will also have to take a drug test. The driver is not sure he will have a job when he returns to Florida as his company fires employees when they get a certain number of points on their license.
I thought it was unfair to give the driver a ticket especially when the officer did nothing about the other woman who drove into the ditch.
After he finished with the semi driver the officer stopped at my house to make sure I had gotten the insurance information from the driver. Their patrol cars must run hot as I noticed after he left an area of partially melted snow where his car had sat. At the accident site later I noticed I could see a large area of the pavement where the patrol car had sat and melted the snow.
After noon a large tow truck came to get the truck up and out of the ditch. Once the first two truck driver got the site prepared a second large tow truck came as it took two trucks to get the semi and trailer upright and out of the ditch. I asked the tow truck driver how much the truck cost. For accidents the rate is $275 an hour for each truck. For non-accidents it is $150 an hour. The rate for their smaller (normal) truck is $100 to pull a vehicle out.
It took two hours to get the truck upright and hauled off. During this time traffic had to turn around as they took up the entire road. Some vehicles waited but all eventually turned around due to the time it took. The tow truck drivers must have called the county as a snowplow came shortly before the semi was hauled off. The snowplow cleared the road of snow where the truck had its accident.
I noticed today, now that the snow has melted off the road, the two tow trucks had damaged the pavement as I see two large sections where the pavement was gouged and grooved.
Wednesday morning when I opened my curtains after getting up I saw the same large blue tow truck back again. Near the same spot - but on the other side of the road - a large garage truck had gone into the ditch. The garbage truck remained upright and it took only one tow truck to pull it out of the ditch.
Thursday I went for a bicycle ride of 3 miles now that the snow has mostly melted off the road. I seen indications in the snow where several other vehicles had gone off the road.
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