I was on my way to work this morning, following an unmarked police car, when he and the several cars in front of him slowed down.  I had plenty of following distance, and was only going 45, but when I hit my brakes to slow down, they immediately locked up.

My rear end pulled to the right, which caused me to drift into the opposing lane — right into the path of a Tyson truck.  I let off my brakes, got back in my lane, and re-applied.  They locked up again, and this time, I didn’t have enough room to stop.  Instead of taking out the back of the patrol car, I went for the ditch instead, thinking that I would tear up the passenger’s side of the truck and hit the culvert about 15′ in front of where I was aiming.

When I hit the ditch, I was going about 20-25 MPH, and my front right wheel caught on a boulder that flanked a culvert, flipped my truck front-wise into the ditch.

I wasn’t hurt at all, and was able to get out right away.  I think I made a couple of kids’ day that were waiting at the bus stop across the street.  As someone once told me, “Save the skin, then the tin” – as soon as my brakes locked the second time, I knew I was going to crash, and did my best to limit the damage.  I think I made the best choices available to me at the time, so no regrets.

I also learned that full coverage insurance is freaking awesome.  Instead of bumming rides to work, I’m shopping for a new vehicle.