I got smacked in my cab by a Mack truck, literally, on Telegraph Road in Brownstown. I was stopped in the left-most lane trying to make a left turn into a mobile home park with signals on, when suddenly I felt a "WUMP!" and next thing I know, this tanker is right behind me.
About thirty seconds after the impact, the passenger I had with me started complaining about neck problems. Upon inspection of the car, I noticed very little damage sustained with the hit, which I think was at 30 MPH. At this point, my mind wrote off the damage and I became more concerned with the welfare of my passenger. So I had a little discussion with the tanker driver and arranged to have his supervisor contacted immediately. The last I saw of Scott (the passenger), it appeared he was having whiplash. I asked him three times if he needed treatment, and he turned me down three times -- even when I asked "are you sure?"
I had a very heavy heart when I left there... and just want tomorrow to pass quickly so that I can get to this weekend that I desperately need. Of course, the boss went nuts and asked "how can I send the car out in this condition?" Damn hard plastic bumpers; if they had been chrome as in the good old days, you might notice a little discolorization, but nothing else. I had to laugh to myself as he said this; my attention turned to the cab next to me which had a nice green streak of paint stretching from the rear bumper to the rear passenger door. His father-in-law's cab had a big gash on the bumper. My damage was cosmetic in nature only. Why does he fly off the handle at something minor?
Days like this make me wish I never took the job. I barely made any money today, and with the stress about Scott, I know tonight won't provide much sleep.
I just can't understand how that stretch of Telegraph Road (which looks a lot like the road layout in the photo below) can function with the increase in traffic - without a left-turn lane or more signals throughout the area.
Hopefully this doesn't show a sign of me becoming accident prone. The night blindness thing notwithstanding, it actually is a great stress to take some of these passengers along, simply because you know someone else's life is in your hands. Even at the airport, what we did affected only us, not a paying customer.
The accident was not my fault. Nonetheless, I'll be starting on Monster.com all over again. Something tells me this stepping stone is about to sink.
