Shaun de Jager, Founder of RoadAwareness.org and tow truck driver for CAA, blogs about the crazy, weird, and downright scary things he sees on our roads.

Sometimes you just don’t want to get out of bed and over the last couple weeks, I’ve had many days like that. Not because it’s been cold or because I didn’t want to do anything but because I haven’t been able to move much. But despite the pain of having a couple cracked ribs, I know that I’m lucky to be alive.

A couple weeks ago, near the end of my shift, I got a call to rescue a motorist stranded on the side of the highway. When I arrived, I was pleased to see that I had a huge shoulder to work on… nice and wide giving me the largest safety margin to work in that I’ve had in a long time. I got the side of my truck up against the barrier leaving me nearly five feet on the other side to work in. Now conditions weren’t great so I still had on my beacon lights, safety vest and traffic cones deployed like I’m supposed too. They are supposed to make me more visible and help keep me safe but sometimes I have to wonder if it just causes a visual distraction for drivers and causes ‘target fixation’. Although with so much space to work, this was one of the safest pick-ups I’ve had to do.

Most traffic kept their distance from the shoulder and as usual and the trucks all moved over into the middle lane, which of course everyone should be doing by-law regardless of what you drive. Slow down and if possible move over. Not everyone does either because they don’t know that rule or they simply don’t care. Some drivers tend to veer a bit towards you though thanks to ‘target fixation’. If you stare at something on the side of the road, there will be a natural tendency to move towards it.

Generally speaking, I never trust drivers to do the right thing and when picking up a vehicle on the highway, I trust them even less. So with that in mind I always try and keep an eye on the oncoming traffic in case someone gets too close. Unfortunately, I still have to look at what I’m doing so that I can secure the car properly, ensuring that it doesn’t fall off. Considering my flatbed was slippery from a fine layer of ice and snow, I wanted to be certain that it was secured properly. It was in one of these moments, when I had to look at my hands, that all hell broke loose. I had just finished loading the car and was securing my last strap when I heard a slight rumbling sound and when I looked up I saw a car coming straight at me. I jumped and pressed my body against the side of my truck as the headlights came at me. I had barely a second to react and get out of the way. Headlights, jump, thud, tail lights. I held onto the side of the truck to steady myself and watched the car continue on the shoulder, which nearly hit a bridge a few hundred metres away. The driver didn’t even stop to see what happened (maybe he/she was drunk?). Then the pain hit me. I had just been struck by the side mirror of this car that swerved about four feet onto the shoulder. The fellow I was rescuing ran over to seed if I was ok.

I finished the call and dropped off this fellow and his car off where he needed to go but he had to help me unload. I couldn’t lift my right arm and the pain in my side and ribs was really getting bad. I was pretty sure I had broken them. I’ve had broken ribs before and this felt much the same. Moving was becoming very painful and so was breathing. I tend to have a high pain threshold for some things and since I’d had this before when I crashed a motorbike while offroading I was certain what was wrong. I went home to sleep it off and see how I felt in a few hours. The morning came around and I was pretty rough but since I didn’t have any blood in my urine, indicating damage to my kidney’s, I spent a few days in bed moving as little as possible. Yes yes…I could have called 911 and gone to the hospital but I knew what was wrong and the idea of sitting upright in the ER waiting room was that last thing I wanted to do. I knew from previous experiences what to look for and all they would do is send me home. A few days later I was able to move enough to get myself to a walk-in clinic and I was pretty much right… two cracked ribs and I was advised from that point to not work for at least 10 days.

I’m starting to feel a bit better at this point but I still see those headlights coming at me sometimes at night. I know that had I not reacted as quickly as I did or if the car came just four inches closer, I may not be here to even share this tale. Drive safe everyone and pay attention. Lives depend on it.

Tow to Tow with Drivers: I Got Clipped originally appeared on AOL Autos Canada on Sun, 26 Dec 2010 09:56:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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