Wednesday, 11 December 2019
Seriously cold this morning - the actual temp is just below freezing, but the wind chill takes it down into the mid-20s. I put on multiple layers of warm clothes.
I gave serious thought to staying in the campground today and going into Birmingham tomorrow, but today's supposed to be sunny and pretty, while tomorrow's looking more like clouds and rain. Given the yucky weather that affected my trip to Tuscaloosa, I decided to opt for the city while the sun was shining.
 |
| close-up of today's route |
Driving north I saw an electronic highway department sign warning that there was ice on the roadway. I wasn't sure whether to believe it, because it was about 9:30, the sun had been shining for hours, and I figured the morning's traffic would have warmed it all up anyway. But I still slowed down. And I did see some ice on the roadsides a few times.
Highway accidents
I also saw several cars that I think must have hit ice earlier in the morning, based on their weird angles on the grass along the road, and on the odd skid marks on the grass around them. And then I got stuck in a serious traffic jam, where I traveled just over 2 miles in 35 minutes. At the end of the clog I saw 3 or 4 wrecked vehicles being dealt with. Hope nobody was hurt. But it was all enough to make me more cautious.
Civil Rights Museum
I went to the Birmingham Civil Rights Museum and will do a separate post on that.
My accident
As I was walking across the street to get to the parking lot where I'd left the RV, I was hit by a car. Really.
I had one of those pedestrian walk lights so I was walking, when a white SUV came around the corner and didn't stop. I was in the center of his car when he hit me and I had just enough time to realize I was about to get hit and I couldn't avoid it. Fortunately, he'd slowed to make the turn so he wasn't going very fast, which would have been a real problem. Instead, he knocked me down and I ended up in the street on my back saying, "No, no, no" over and over. No, I couldn't believe I'd gotten hit and no, I had responsibilities to my pets and couldn't take the time to be damaged and no, I didn't want anyone official to examine me because they'd decide that at my age I should be checked for concussion or something I didn't want to know about.
The guy got on his phone instantly and called 911 and told them I'd walked out in front of his car. I knew I hadn't, and we discussed it. Another man had stopped to be sure we were both okay, knew I'd had the right of way, and pointed out that the already setting sun was probably in this guy's eyes and he didn't see me. They both refused to let me leave until officialdom could get there - the driver because he was afraid he'd get in trouble and the other guy to be sure I was okay. The driver was also afraid not to call it in, not only because that's the law but also because he was afraid if he didn't, I'd go call the cops myself and then he'd be accused of a hit-and-run. I know because he said so.
After the driver had understood I hadn't been doing anything wrong as he'd thought, I started to understand that he could be in a lot of trouble with insurance and with the law. He was black and I was white and I had no idea how officialdom viewed these things these days. And I too conceded it was likely an actual accident because he probably couldn't see me for the sun's angle. I didn't want to get him in trouble over what was an accident and not really much his fault.
Within 5 minutes we had 2 ambulances, a fire truck and 2 police cars, and I felt bad that I wasn't hurt enough to justify any of that and said so. I actually was hurt, but I was absolutely not going to tell them that. And I ended up telling them the driver had done everything right and yes, I'd been hit by a car because I'd walked in front of it, and no, I didn't need medical help, what I really needed was to go to my RV over there and walk my dogs because I'd kept them waiting for 3 hours. And after I'd said all that 2 or 3 times, they let the driver and me go.
Of course, the dogs acted like they hadn't walked in a week and just went haywire, which my legs weren't in any shape to deal with. I was stiff and sore and a little weak and wishing I had one calm 14-year-old Dachshund instead of 2 bouncy big guys.
Another almost accident
I'd intended to stop off to see the statue of Vulcan here in town, but decided it was much later than I'd planned and I should just call it a day.
That Vulcan statue by the way is, at 56' tall and 100,000 pounds, the world's largest cast iron statue. It was built for the 1904 World's Fair in St. Louis and later brought here to commemorate Birmingham's beginnings as an iron mine and steel mill town. Sorry to have to miss it. I think there's an iron/steel industry museum near there, and it's on a hill where I'd expect a good view of the city. But my body just couldn't do it.
The highway traffic wasn't too bad except for the car that nearly ran into my side. I had been driving almost alongside him for nearly a mile, but he was talking to his passenger and I don't think he even looked. Anyway, I could see he was slowly changing lanes right into mine. His car was getting closer and closer, and I suddenly saw the hood of the car that had just hit me coming closer and closer - so, I honked and this guy jerked back into his lane. All I could think of was - great, another accident - just what I need to cap off the day.
Back at the campground
By the time we got back, I knew I'd better spend tomorrow right here and not drive down to Auburn. My body was stiffening up pretty quickly and I had some quite sore spots on my knees and elbows, not to mention my back which that SUV had thrown me onto. Not reasonable to think I could make a 3- or 4-hour drive on state routes. So I stopped at the camp office and paid for an extra night on Thursday.
No comments:
Post a Comment