Remember when I wrote about a globe jumping out of a pick-up truck and nearly taking us out as we drove an L.A. freeway?
The other day, Mister and I were out on that same freeway, covering the same route even, and just as we merged onto the 5, the pick-up truck in front of us lost a wheel. Not the tire alone, mind you, but the entire gal-danged wheel. It happened quite suddenly, and as the pick-up’s driver struggled to maintain control of his tilted vehicle (at 65 miles per hour, I might add), Mister did an amazing job of dodging that bouncing wheel.
I need to take a moment to praise Mister, if you please. Seriously – not only was the pick-up veering and the unattached wheel bouncing wildly, but while avoiding both those things Mister also had to brake suddenly and maintain control of our car. His command was stellar and I’m simply amazed. And grateful. For reals.
We pulled over in front of the pick-up, just as the rogue wheel bounced across 5 lanes of traffic and collided with a big rig. In only a few seconds, traffic had come to a stand-still. Then a miracle happened: that stopped traffic included a highway patrolman. He got the naughty wheel off the road and to the shoulder, where he pulled his car over, then loaded the blasted wheel into his trunk and began slowly backing up to check on the driver of the pick-up. By that time, I had already gotten out of our car and checked on the driver (and his young son, strapped into the pick-up’s backseat). The guy was clearly shaken, but he and his son were okay. He was freaking out about possibly having caused a major accident, but once the wayward wheel was cleared from the freeway and all 5 lanes of traffic began to flow once more, he relaxed a bit. I made my way back to our car, Mister merged into the resuming traffic and the highway patrolman continued his slow back-up to the stranded pick-up. As we passed him, he gave us a friendly wave. We waved back and headed home.
It didn’t take long for Mister to remember the last time we were out on that same freeway, and how the globe had come right at us. With that in mind, I am seriously considering writing off that entire section of highway. I mean, 2 incidents, 2 pick-ups? If that freeway is trying to kill us, I do not want the third time to be the charm.