Explodo!

I had a frightening thing happen today.

I was driving up to Indianapolis for our monthly movie night. (I meet several former colleagues once a month and tonight was the night.)

It was around 4:45 or so and I was going to do a bit of shopping beforehand. I was on the south side of Indy on 465, in the left lane (of three lanes), doing about 70mph.

I realized suddenly that I was in the blind spot of the driver of the pickup in the next lane, so I began to accelerate past him. At the same moment, he decided it was time to pass the car in front of him, so he began to move into my lane.

Without glancing over his left shoulder to make sure it was clear.

In rush hour traffic.

Whether he was fixing his hair, changing radio stations, eating a Big Mac, talking on his cell phone, or yanking his chicken, I’ll never know, but I do know what the bastard wasn’t doing–paying attention to traffic.

I noticed the truck moving in my direction and thought for a nanosecond–what the hell am I going to do now? I glanced over, saw the shoulder was empty, and checked all around me to make sure I could go there.

I pulled onto the shoulder to get out of his way, but I then saw, about a hundred feet in front of me, a large blown-out semi truck tire, directly in my path. The pickup driver hadn’t yet clued into what was happening and was running next to me in the left lane, so I had no choice but to hit the tire.

In the split second I had to think, I had to make a decision–namely, how do I hit the tire? It’s funny how people react in these situations. It’s usually either total panic or complete lucidity. The moment completely decompressed in my mind, like the seconds were stretching into hours. I actually had the time in only a few seconds to consider all options.

My choice was to straddle it. I knew if I hit it with a wheel, I’d risk blowing out my own tire or, worst-case scenario, flipping my car over. Even a blowout would very likely cause me to lose control at the speed I was driving, so straddling it and letting the tire go underneath the car seemed the only semi-smart choice.

So, I hit the tire.

I heard a series of loud bumps and scraping noises and felt my car vibrate all to hell. As the back of my car passed over the tire, I glanced into the rear-view mirror and saw the tire literally explode behind me, sending shards of rubber and steel-belt up into the air and then down onto the interstate.

At this point, the pickup driver finally realized that something was happening. He moved into the center lane and slowed down rather dramatically. I swear to you his speed dropped by about 10 to 15mph, because he disappeared from my view. I think during the three to four seconds in which this all occurred, he realized what had happened.

I pulled back onto the highway and gradually made my way to the right lane. I considered pulling off the road, but I decided that stopping on the highway at that time of day would be the stupidest move possible. I thought about leaving the road altogether, but I wasn’t sure where to stop or what to do. I continued on the highway.

I watched my gauges and lights carefully and paid very close attention to steering, acceleration, and braking. Somehow, everything was fine. I stayed on the road. Finally, on the east side of town, it dawned on me that the Saturn dealer in Fishers (the far northeast corner of the Indy metro area) would still be open. Even though my car seemed fine, having it checked out by someone very familiar with my car seemed smart.

But it was rush hour. I-69 was backed up onto 465, with traffic at a standstill. I got off on Allisonville Road and drove to the Castleton Arts movie theater, where I knew I’d find either Dave or Dione, both friends of mine. At this point, it was about 5:20.

I went in, used the bathroom, and asked Scott at the box office for the phone. I called the Saturn dealer and learned they were closing at 6, so I booked out of there without saying anything to Dione, who I assume was upstairs.

I was so shaken up I couldn’t speak clearly to Scott or the Saturn guy, but I still managed to get to the dealership.

The Saturn mechanic said there were problems with the heat shield and air deflector and a few other things underneath. The car’s drivable, but he urged me to fix it within a week. So tomorrow, I’ll call my insurance and figure out where to go next.

It’s an unreal thought and pardon the melodrama, but I honestly believe I nearly died today. I can’t fathom that the damage to my car was so minor and the damage to my body was nonexistent, but just inches in one direction or the other and one of my front wheels would have hit that tire and I’m not sure what would have happened.

I’m taking tomorrow (today, really) off. No chapters to edit, no housework, no billpaying, no worrying about the coming semester, nothing. I’m going for a bike ride and I’m going to read a while and I’m going to have dinner and wine with my friends here. Oh, and call my mom.

Sorry for keeping all of you so long, but I had to get this off my chest. It scared the hell out of me.