(Freak/ car) Accidents and how lucky lucky lucky.....

Okay, last monday. Departure day to Thailand. Didn't catch much sleep, fully awake on caffeine, but still orientated and focussed - I thought.

Nothing packed, nothing sorted (as so often). I get a rental van to tow my two axis, solid aluminum, beautyful trailer for it's winter-quarter. The fast gets furious as a mad2

guy parked right behind it - illegally rolleyes

on my time, nerves and strengths expense...

Sweating, I connect it to the van, plug in the power, check it, get in the van and take off. Beautiful and sunny skies, no cloud in sight. Still plenty of time. First traffic light and underpass, second traffic light - I'm taking it easy, 40k's an hour, not more. The journey will later take me one hour out of town, on the autobahn.

Suddenly - I'm no longer sure what was first - I feel a freak motion in the van, hear a screeetch, look into the rear mirror and just observe the trailer, how it's no longer connected to the van, the automatic brake kicks in and it crashes into the next, parked car...

eek

The cars side didn't look that good anymore, my trailer had only it's aluminum mudguard missing... The phone number of the owner on the car, called him - he already heard the noise, looked outside through the window only at the other - undamaged side...... nice one, Tom.

To cut a long story short. I clearly remember how I connected the trailer and that I thought to myself: "Make sure, it's properly connected!" I thought I had frown

Now the damage will be paid by the insurance, but imagining how f censored

ing lucky I've been... No traffic behind me; no person inside the parked car; a parked car, not a cyclist or pedestrian; and ways before going on the Autobahn with at least 80k's/h ----- unimaginable. This is the fabric nightmares and life long self-accusations are woven from.

My learning experience: Whatever the clock tells me - always double-check. Always double check and make sure that the machine I am operating is functioning properly. Do as much as possible - not as necessary. Never operate a vehicle when not in the proper condition. May it be tiredness or anything else. This - to me - was a(nother) wakeup call.

If you had freak accident experiences where you have been lucky lucky lucky (or not that lucky) - where a little inattentiveness almost caused a catastrophy - pls share it.

I am intending to educate myself even more about those little things in life, the little things that I do every day and then simply forget about them... but there is no excuse for being a threat to fellow brother and sister citizens.

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