My Sincerest Apology

To the driver of that red Mustang northbound on US431 in Alabama the other day.

You were tooling along at 50mph, enjoying the sights. You have every right to do that. It's a gorgeous area. I like that drive, too. I was fighting the clock, though and went into the left lane on that four-lane section to come around you. You didn't seem to have any problem with that. However, like most drivers of cars, you sped up a little bit. I think this is something people unconsciously do. Again, I do not fault you for this. It happens all the time.

There were two more trucks coming up from behind us and the one following me came in way too close for 65mph. I saw him in my mirror and then looked at the road in front of me. Oh, s&#$!!! There was a tire in my lane! Not just the tread, the whole tire. You were still on my trailer, the other truck was less than 30 feet from my rear and that tire would either flip me over directly onto you or cause grievous damage not only to my truck, but possibly cause a jack-knife. I tried to slow down, but that truck was still closing on my rear. I noted the wide, flat, paved shoulder to your right and I was out of options.

I started moving toward your lane. You were paying attention. Thank God, you were paying attention. You took the shoulder on the right with absolutely no time to spare. I moved halfway into your lane, the truck following me jumped in behind you and the third truck, who never left the right lane, had to hard brake to let him in. Everybody came away unscathed, but I'm certain I scared the love of God into you and for that, I am sorry.

I had less than two seconds to assess and act on all of the factors involved in this. My decision could have cost you and your passenger, innocently going for a ride.....your lives. I hoped you would catch up to me so I could express these thoughts in person, but you never did. I would have taken the arse-chewing like an adult and accepted any thoughts you would have wanted to share on the situation.

I just want to tell you. You did nothing wrong and showed exceptional reaction ability. You have no idea how much I appreciate this. Again, my apologies for placing you in that situation in the first place.





By the way: That's a beautiful car.

 

I guess it's a good thing this Swifty has 68mph on the truck. I get to really mess with JB by bumpingit up to 61.95mph and really irritate people.

But that's not what happened in this case.