They Call Them "Accidents" For a Reason

 Somewhere, sometime, for some unknown reason, the subject of motor vehicle accidents came up and this person I was talking to profoundly explained why they are called accidents. "Otherwise they would be called "On Purposes", he explained. That analogy has stuck with me ever since.

So as a truck driver with close to 2.5 million accident-free miles, I have seen my share of accidents. Mostly after the fact, in the clean up stage, and a few times in circumstances as such, that I was unable to assist with aid in any way. 

I do remember being first upon a single motor vehicle accident early one morning, The morning sun was just breaking way to the darkness. The driver of a car some ways ahead of me, apparently fell asleep and drove into the ditch rolling several times. We were in far western Nebraska on I-80 just miles from eastern Wyoming border. I pulled onto the shoulder of the road, grabbed by blanket, and sprinted to the crash scene. The morning air was chilly explains why I thought to grab a blanket. Arriving at the scene, I found the 2 occupants conscience and in shock. One was just sitting there on the side of the ditch, just staring. He had what appeared to be a miner cut on his forehead that was dripping blood. The other was nearby and screaming in pain. Looking closer, I could see his nose was nearly ripped off his face and his right arm was bent and broken in such a way I could not describe it. I did my best to get him to lie down and be still so I could cover him up with the blanket. By this time, another truck driver had stopped and was assisting keeping the 2 victims calm and warm. Out in the middle of nowhere and long before cell phones, we hoped help would come soon. And it did. Within minutes, a state trooper arrived and a paramedic unit soon after. I reported to the trooper what I was told by the person with a cut head, that he was a hitchhiker and they had been driving all night and he assumed the driver fell asleep because the next thing he remembers was sitting in the ditch watching a cloud of dust settle on the crashed car in the ditch.

No. I left my blanket and never got it back.