A Near Miss at Windy Acres
A tale of near miss by Meribeth Lomkin, Resource Specialist, Sr., Jerome
"I had what I guess you could call a near miss on the way home from Idaho Falls last night when I was westbound on I-86 between Pocatello and American Falls.
I watched an eastbound car start hydro-planing, spin 360°, cross the median, and come right for me. Luckily, the traffic behind me was a ways back so they didn’t get mixed up in the mess, and I was able to slow down (slower than I was already going due to the heavy rain conditions) and travel on the nice wide paved shoulder while the car, now eastbound in the westbound lanes, got under control and then darted back across the median to the eastbound lanes where it belonged.
All’s well that ends well, it totally missed me and the rest of the westbound traffic, I let the 4 cars that caught up while I was dodging “hydro” get on past, and then I went back to driving home. All I saw of “hydro” was that it made it back to the pavement on the eastbound lanes and that was good enough for me.
The speed at which all of that action happened was mind boggling. I’m pretty sure that car had cruise control set to 80 or better when it hit the edge of the storm and started to hydroplane. I’m pretty sure that there was 4” of rain on the road where I was slowing on the paved shoulder while all this was going on.
Westbound traffic had been running through the rain from this eastbound cloud for quite a while when this happened, I was going about 40 when I saw that car start to spin – but we were just at the western edge of the eastbound storm – so that eastbound car had just reached the wet road, and it was very wet."
This story could have ended much differently for Meribeth if she hadn't been paying attention and "hydro" hadn't gotten the vehicle under control.
This is a reminder of the danger of wet roads and cruise control. And that rapidly changing road conditions don’t only occur in the winter!
Don’t discount the possibility of oncoming cars entering your lane on a divided highway. Always look ahead of you.
- Generally speaking, you should look ahead 15 to 20 seconds or an eighth of a mile when driving in the city and 20 to 30 seconds or about a quarter of a mile on the highway.
Meribeth, we are thankful that you came through that frightening experience unharmed! Thank you for sharing your story with us and providing the reminder.
Bees, bees, bees......
Kurt Lyon, GNA Program Specialist in the CDA Staff office wanted to share a safety message with you regarding bees. Every year the bee activity varies, but there are always reported bee stings.
Kurt wants to ensure that employees prepare accordingly for a possible high activity year of yellow jackets and bald face hornets. He recommends that employees be equipped with antihistamines, sting kill, chemical cold compacts, and epinephrine pens if prescribed.
If you are allergic, you may want to consider letting someone with you know so that they can respond if you aren't able to.
One way to know what kind of insect stung you is to check for a stinger. If you’ve got one stuck in your skin, you were stung by a honeybee. A honey bee is the only species with a stinger that detaches, which means that the honeybee will sting and then die. On the other hand, wasps, hornets and other types of bees will fly off to sting again (and again and again).
To treat a sting from a bee, wasp, or hornet, dermatologists recommend the following tips:
- Stay calm.
- Remove the stinger.
- Wash the sting with soap and water.
- Apply a cold pack to reduce swelling.
- Apply hydrocortisone cream or calamine lotion to ease redness, itching, or swelling.
- If necessary, consider taking over-the-counter pain medication or antihistamines.
Thank you Kurt for this important bee awareness message!
If you have a Safety Message or safety related experience that you would like to share with your fellow team members, please contact me or send me your story or message.
I am always happy to hear your ideas, stories, or topic specific messages!
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