Near as darnit got killed the other day--

[Steve Hilby]

I was towing my sister's Compact Jr. back to my place for a few little updates, and I had stopped along the road to check the hitch and safety chains.

Without thinking, I stepped out from between the car and trailer. Whoosh! Whoosh! Two cars went whizzing by my nose. Missed me, thank God.

I was hidden by the trailer and completely invisible to them until I stepped out. Wouldn't been entirely my fault if I'd been hit. Next time, I'm definitely going to look first!

[Coach George Jessup]

better yet.. next time drive a little further and pull over to inspect things in a parking lot, rest area, Gas station etc...

Why pull over in places where the danger potential is significantly higher?

[April Wilcox]

That is a close call! Glad you are ok. We had a crazy person drive between us and the car in the next lane at about 90-100mph on our way home with our new (old) camper the other day. What do you call it, shooting the pipe? That looked like a motorcycle move, but they were in a car.

I will definitely take note on your experience, pull off the highway to check.... check!

[Dan R]

Always use your emergency flashers! If you must pull over on a freeway, don't linger even behind your car or trailer. I have lost track of how many peoples' lives have changed or ended because of someone running into a pulled over vehicle. I back away as vehicles approach never taking for granted they see me. With cruise control and other comforts, people get very relaxed traveling at high speeds and aren't always as alert as they should be. If you are pulled over in an emergency, don't hesitate placing flares or caution triangles so vehicles know they are approaching a stopped vehicle(s).
A rule to remember:
If your vehicle breaks down on a railroad track and a train is coming, what do you do?

Get out of your vehicle and run towards the direction the train is coming from! (off the tracks of course)

[Scott S.]

in Canada it would still be the fault of the driver that hit you. they should know better and if there was a second lane, it's customary that they move right to avoid you. if they were passing a cop (stopped to give someone a ticket) in a Ontario at that speed... they'd be fined. heavily!

[Steve Hilby]

Well, I'd just spent the weekend working on her house and not sleeping very well, so I was tired and perhaps not completely alert--not to mention not being accustomed to pulling a trailer and following safe trailer practices.

In retrospect, I should've: 1. found a wider place to pull over, and 2. looked before stepping out.

[Joe Z]

Just a suggestion but if i "have" to i pull over on the freeway I use the shoulder of an "on" ramp .....that puts me way out of the way of most of the traffic and it's easy to merge back in when i have to. It's also a much safer place to change a flat if you can't make it to a rest area.
Joe

[Roger C H]

Just watch the videos of all the people that run into police cruisers on the shoulder with their lights flashing. A lot of folks out there are driving impaired, drunk, drugged, etc. Especially at night. We had a drunk kill two girls walking their bikes near here. The drunks see the reflectors and think they are following another car, I imagine.
So I second the notion, use an off ramp, or better yet, the on part of the off ramp, or a rest stop.

[Darnelle]

If at all possible, get to a parking lot, gas station, etc. The shoulder of a road is not safe -- people tend to drive where they look, and when they are looking at you they tend to drive toward you. So even when sober and not on a cell, motorists often strike a car that's on the shoulder.

For this same reason, if you're trying to avoid something you should look at where you want your vehicle to be, not at what you don't want to hit.

[Mike Magee]

Yup, I feel for you. Been there and done that. It only takes a moment's inattention sometimes to end one's mortal life. Oh well, all we can do is learn and go on.

A moment of inattention is what finished my 91 year old mother last month. Out driving (still driving at her age!), turned left in front of a pickup and got t-boned at 50 mph. Well, she had a bad heart valve and was getting weaker and I know she didn't want to linger in sickness at the end... plus I know I'll see her again in that happy place... so it isn't all sorrow. (The other people were all ok, thank God.)