Nearly squished...
In May this year I was nearly killed on the A14 Eastbound just by Cambridge services. For those who don't know, the A14 between Huntingdon & Cambridge is one of the most dangerous stretches in the country - 2-lane dual carriageway with lots of side roads & heavy freight traffic to & from Felixstowe.

I was steadily overtaking a Belgian juggernaut in my little Fiesta when he decided to pull out. Left hand drive - I'm in his blind spot. He just caught my back end, swinging me round until I was clamped to his front grill & then he pushed me sideways down the road for 200 yards. Loud screeching of rubber & metal & large lorry bearing down on one side, horribly close tarmac on the other. It all happened in slow motion as these things do & I was strangely calm as we scaped along.

Both my parents had died a month earlier (on the same day!) so I think my attitude was "Yeah, yeah, bring it on. You think you can stress me out any more?? Try being orphaned in a day!"

Amazingly the insurance decided the car wasn't a write-off. The repair bloke said the tyres were worn down to metal & canvas. He couldn't believe that one hadn't blown out. If it had, he said, I'd have rolled & the lorry would have driven over me & I'd almost certainly be dead.

I still have to drive along the same stretch at least once a month & now I develop a nervous twitch when I do... It's not been a good year, all things considered.
( Dunks, Sat 27 Nov 2004, 11:01, Reply)