Single Car Accident
My story begins on a snow filled evening. I arrive with my mom to Chedder's, and we meet my grandparents from Mississippi for a light enjoyable meal. We ate and socialized, caught up, and discussed LSU's poor performance. I sat reading my recently purchased book since I had no bias to either team, and didn't particulary care about the outcome. Football is totally fin.Well as the meal concluded my mother and I sped off into the night. We were on 24 right before the exit to the Super Wal*Mart, when my mom decided to change lanes. She put her left blinker on and started to slowly merge into the left lane. My mom looked at me and said "We are going to do donuts," in a kind of joking way. No sooner than when the sentance finished than we began to slid to the right. Mom turned into the skid like all good Illinois drivers due, but the skid was far too severe. We began to turn 90, 180, 270, 360, 450, 540, 630
A sign posted to warn drivers that they were driving in the wrong lane became our brake. The car only suffered a minor hit to the left tail light, and both passangers were unharmed. A minivan that had seen the event unfold stopped to assest those in need and make sure that everyone was alright. He asked if we had a phone, so that we could contact people that could assist in this sort of situation. We told him we had everything under control and that we had already called someone. As he sped off in his minivan, and we sat wondering who we should call or what we should do. Mom had the idea to try to wedge some sort of object under the rear tires to give traction. She opened the trunk and found a lid to a box and a blanket. I place the box under the right rear tire and she the blanket under the left rear tire. She closed the trunk and climbed back into the car. I stood outside to see if the hastely concieved plan had any chance of success. I watched and notice that the rear tires weren't moving at all. I look to the front and see the tires spinning wildly trying to gain some kind of friction. I ask my mom if her Taurus is a front wheel drive, she looks back at me with a puzzled look and says "Is it?"
We grab the traction pads and slip them under the front tire. Another car with a concerned driver gets out to survey the situation. She suggests that we try to scrap some of the snow off from around the tires, and as we set plan b into motion an IDOT snowplow arrives on the scene. He asks us if we are alright and if it was us that sent the sign to the ground. I reply to his questions with a short and quick yes and another similar yes. We told them we had everything under control and that we had someone on the way. The IDOT worker said that he was going to plow the rest of the road and then come back, the other woman says she has to get to Eureka to get to work. They both leave. My mom begins to call some of her friends. Then the third and final auto stops to assist. A man steps out, probaly in his early to mid 20's, and he asks if we are ok, and if he could help in any way. My mom seeing that it is a truck and equiped with 4 Wheel drive inquires that if has a chain and if he could tow us out. He replies with a lyes and gets to work connecting chain to truck to car. We are pulled out of the ditch right as the IDOT snow plow makes it back to the scene. My mom hops out of the driver seat to tell the man thank you and to give him a fraction of the cost it would have taken to get a tow truck on the scene. We take the roads slowly and carefully, with a bit of cautious anxiety flowing through the car. Our left tail light was busted and we had already had enough vehicular excitement and didn't want to be on the butt end of a ticket. We took moderatly traveled roads to avoid the heat, but to still reap the benefits of the precidented tire trails. We made it back to home with nary another incident.