“Morning has broken, like the first morning“. The famous lyrics by Cat Stevens glorifies the beautiful world we live in. He goes on to praise several unique experiences, as well as the random blackbird. In short, it is a tribute to the mornings.
This post might be boring as hell for you, but it is personal for me. My trusted red truck was killed by a young driver who wasn’t paying attention. Thankfully we both came away unscathed, although I had some imaginative issues when I passed the spot on the highway after the accident.
I want to share the primary learning that I was not harmed, although I lost my truck. It is material damages, and it could’ve been so much worse. We can’t be too consumed with objects. The incident was utterly frustrating, but thankfully I could work remotely for a few days.
Building up to a climax
I felt just as glorious and cheerful as the blackbird as I was heading to work on an innocent and typical Tuesday morning. Traffic on the highway was humming along at 7.30 am, although it was slowly building up slightly, but nothing unusual. The weather was clearing up, and the sun was already warming up the wet tarmac. It was a good morning.
I was minding my own business when someone decided to fuck up my day!
Little did I know that two miles further down the road, my life would change. Nothing dramatically or life-altering, but an experience that would put my truck on a path of destruction.
Traffic was slowing down ahead. I removed my foot from the accelerator and placed it in a hovering position over the brake, anticipating the traffic to grind to a halt, which is an everyday occurrence on this stretch of the highway. A hovering foot over the brake prepares you, and you feel confident that you can read the traffic behaviors. You anticipate traffic behaviors that come from years of driving.
The highway is one of the main highways in the tri-state areas, NY-NJ-CT, and it is often grinding to a halt or runs very slowly for a few miles. One should be prepared to stop and at times with less or no notice. Shit! Cars suddenly slow down or stop for no apparent reason.
Driving Advice – Keep your distance to avoid any sudden collisions. Aggressive driving is what rush hour traffic does not need, although most commuters live on the edge.
Some feel the need to drive within 3-6 feet of the car in front.
Anyway, my big red truck slowed down to about 20mph and kept a reasonable distance from the car in front. No need to ride the arse of the vehicles, irrespectively of how well the traffic flows.
I checked my rearview mirror and spotted a small white Honda sedan coming up quickly. Unfortunately, it was coming too fast and showed no signs of slowing down.
Concerns started to fester in my butt hairs, and I instantly knew that the driver was not paying attention. He had not noticed that the traffic was slowing down to a halt. I can only assume he was distracted by something else – perhaps his cellphone?
Seconds felt like minutes and there was nothing I could do to avoid the crash!
The Hit!
I had nowhere to go. If I turned into the right lane, I might have hit someone. It was bumper-to-bumper in all lanes. However, I still moved my truck slightly to the right, hoping the white Honda would see the opening and swerve left into the emergency lane.
The young grasshopper driver realized too late what was happening, and he frantically tried to move left.
My grip tightened around the steering wheel, like a baseball player getting ready to hit a homerun, anticipating a direct hit. My foot was prepared on the brake so I could stop the car once I got hit. Unfortunately, avoiding multiple pileups was not going to happen on my watch.
The hit came. It was fast and not as violent as I had thought. A crunching noise accompanied it, the truck jumped forward, and I felt a gentle smack on my back. Nothing serious, and the airbags did not inflate into my beautiful Viking face. It was a somewhat subdued experience.
I had never been in an accident before and wasn’t sure what to expect. It only lasted a few seconds, thankfully, and then everything went silent.
The other driver, an early 20s kid, was shaken as he stood next to his banged-up Honda. Shit leaked from the engine area, fenders smashed, and significant damage to the vehicle’s front/right end.
At a glance, the damage to my “monster” truck appeared light, although the exhaust was grinding heavily on my rear tire. The tow truck dude had some problems getting it in the bed, but it eventually made it up the ramp.
Direct corner hit 
“Custom” exhaust 
The real damage 
On the roadside recovery truck 
Truck on death row
The story continues
I suddenly realize that this post can be too detailed and too long to read, so I’ve decided to break it up into a few sections.
Too many might not even make it to this part of the article. If you did, well done!
The next part of the story will focus on the aftermath, the adventures of the insurance claim, and the stress of finding a suitable replacement truck. It has not been easy to lose my trusted red truck but nothing I could do to prevent it.
And, is there a potential lingering medical issue after the dude rear-ended me? My neck tells me that it is not happy these days and I can only assume it’s the aftershock of getting rammed.
Stay tuned my friends. More to come and perhaps I can share a few valuable tips. I hope you did not have to go through similar experiences.