I drove up to Mum and Dad's today in Moncton, then we proceeded to my brother's place in Truro in my father's van. The roads were snowpacked but passable on the way down. On the return trip, the roads had become pretty icy, with little in the way of grit or salt.
We were midway between Memramcook and Moncton, when just over a rise, it was line to line ice. The van's rear got loose and Dad corrected, but couldn't quite get it back, a few oscillation and 180 degrees later, we're unhurt, still upright, but in the median. I call the CAA, who dispatch a wrecker. Minutes later another van goes off on the other side of the road. He's ok too and miraculously upright.
The wind chill is bouncing somewhere around the -29C mark, so we remain in the shelter of the van, even though I seem to vaguely recall advice to get to safer ground.
A few more cars slip and slide, but manage to remain on the road. All of a sudden an 18 wheeler loses it. All 53 feet of trailer as well as the Kenworth tractor are coming directly at us, sideways, at 80-90Km/hr. I see it first and yell "Oh, Jesus Christ!" Dad and Mum look up. Dad makes an attempt to bail, the rear wheels of the tractor are too close for me to even make the attempt. We all assume the crash position and the truck slides right over us, coming to a rest just behind the van. The only damage to the van was where the bracket for the mud flap hit the door B-pillar.
The driver of the truck was too shaken to talk for quite a while. He quite naturally assumed we had been pancaked. I got up on the highway and got traffic to slow down, but a few ignored or didn't see me and we almost had a few more collisions.
When the cops and ambulance (not required thankfully) showed up, the first cop on the scene told me:"Buddy, you'd better get a Loto ticket ASAP"
Whatever luck I had, I believe I've used up today.
