Near miss with truck cargo
I was driving home from work this afternoon, following behind a large truck heavily loaded with firewood. It was already cut into fireplace lengths, but not split. We were on a highway, so we were driving about 55mph. There was one vehicle between that truck and my car, and I was nervous about how closely that car was tailgating that truck. People tell me that I am too defensive of a driver and that I should drive more aggressively.
Well, let me share this with you. A chunk of wood fell off of that truck and hit the car in front of me. The driver of that car lost control, slamming on their brakes and went into a sideways skid. If I had been driving “more aggressively” I would have run into that car! As it was, I was driving at a safe braking distance and managed to avoid hitting any cars. I managed to change lanes safely and stop the car and use my cell phone to call for help. Fortunately no one was injured. If I had been driving “more aggressively” that would not have been the case!