It happened where I prayed for the last 30 years that it wouldn’t happen to me. Someone hit me from behind.
Usually, one expects this on the highway. Traffic jams. It almost happened to me a few years ago, but then the driver could still react in time.
However, today the driver couldn’t react in time anymore.
When you have to stop
I had to stop in a village at the border of Sauerland and Hesse, because there is an unclear curve in this village. You can’t see from either side whether someone is coming around the bend.
I stopped because a semi-trailer truck was coming around the bend. Because with a 23-meter trailer, you need some space even for a tight curve. So you let others go first, wait a bit to see if someone might be coming behind. Because anyone who knows the area also knows that this curve is very unclear. There’s no mirror, so you might not see around the corner. One of the firefighters told me that already two people had stopped there.
This person was then driven around twice, so no one is stopped there anymore.
It’s an accident hotspot
And in that moment, it happens. Someone hit me from behind.
The impact itself wasn’t that bad. Sure, a few things fell off the bed, but otherwise I didn’t expect the impact to push me forward by almost half a meter.
And that, even though the driver wasn’t fully loaded.
However, the tree trunks really drove into the cab of the truck I hit. And a good thing, the driver was reachable and could say where it hurt.
Except for his left foot, nothing else was trapped. More luck than sense, as they say. Or rather, more than just an angel. It could have ended fatally for the driver.
I had tried to push the driver’s seat back, but it wasn’t possible. So I went to my truck, grabbed my phone, and called the rescue service. They arrived quite quickly.
Overall, according to newspaper reports, 45 emergency personnel were on site, and I would like to thank them once again for their caring support.
Also, many thanks to the colleague who checked in with me several times about my condition. Thank you for that.
I also want to thank the two police officers. They explained everything that might come my way later in detail.
Thank you also to those who contacted me by phone and WhatsApp.
One more thing. I won’t post any photos here. There’s already enough speculation about today’s accident on the internet, especially on Facebook. Therefore, this text doesn’t need any more images of the accident. I could only link to external sites, which I will avoid.
I’m just glad that nothing else happened, the wood I was carrying stayed in place, and thanks to the overhang, at least for my truck, everything remained intact.
And also to the driver who hit me from behind, get well.
To conclude
I read two newspaper reports about this accident. One mentions a truck with a trailer, and the “normal” media refer to a semi-trailer. One should consider two things here:
- The reports in the normal media are not intended for professionals.
- “Semi-trailer” can be seen here as a generic term for all trucks, even though it’s incorrect. So let the journalists be, they don’t mainly write for you!
Oh, and thirdly: Why the driver was hit from behind belongs to the realm of myths and legends for you. So please stop speculating. Both he and I were lucky that it didn’t happen again. And that’s the main thing!
