Oops! My First (And Hopefully Last) Quad Roll-Over
Alternate title: More things I shouldn't tell my mother (but probably will).
Today I and my supervisor, Ron, were heading out to one of our project areas to see what the drilling conditions will be like. Right now our heavy equipment operators are working on upgrading that road to year-round truck driveable status. We were going out by quad, and came to an area where they hadn't finished work, that we needed to get through; the only really way of getting to where we were going was to go down a ~6 foot drop, at a 50-60° angle. I knew from looking at it that there was potential for a roll-over, but I squared myself to the trend of the edge as best I could, and gave it a try. Part way down the quad over-balanced, and began to roll; this was happening slow enough that I was able to roll in the same direction as the quad, and get myself pretty much out of the line of descent. The quad went all the way over, and ended up partially on my left leg, but there was never any real pressure on my leg. Ron came down, helped me right the quad, and checked me over, but I came through okay. My shoulder is a little sore, but otherwise not even a bruise nor a scrape. The quad, too, came through virtually unscathed. With some difficulty, we got Ron's quad down safely, and continued on our way.
I'm sure some will be glad to know that I was wearing the proper safety gear, I had on a motorcycle helmet, was wearing long pants and shirt, as well as gloves, so if it had to happen, I was as prepared as I as was going to be. I knew going in the potential of danger, but we needed to go out there, so I took the course which I judged as giving me the best chance of succeeding, and went for it. If I had been on my own, and was confronted with a similar situation, I probably would've said, "nope", turned around and either convinced one of the heavy equipment operators to clear a path for me, or come back another time. In the end, no real harm was done to either myself or my vehicle, but I recognize that I was lucky.
Going over like that was kind of a strange sensation. I've been in a car accident before, and there everything was over in an instant, and I was left wondering what happened. In this case, time seemed to slow down; I was fully cognizant of everything that was going on, and I attained an almost clinical detachment about the situation. I was aware of what was going on, decided how I should act to deal with it, and then followed through with that plan. I'm unsure how long it took, I was going at a crawl, so it could've been 5 seconds or 15, but it seemed longer.
Perhaps God was watching over me today. The situation could easily have ended up much worse than it did. As it is, I didn't strike my head, I was able to roll with the quad, and roll over on my shoulder to absorb the force of the impact. However, I could've broken a limb, or my neck, if I'd been a bit slower to react. They say that God watches over children and fools, and I certainly am a member of both categories far more often that I would like. I just give thanks that I'm able to be sitting here typing this now, rather than the alternative.
Today I and my supervisor, Ron, were heading out to one of our project areas to see what the drilling conditions will be like. Right now our heavy equipment operators are working on upgrading that road to year-round truck driveable status. We were going out by quad, and came to an area where they hadn't finished work, that we needed to get through; the only really way of getting to where we were going was to go down a ~6 foot drop, at a 50-60° angle. I knew from looking at it that there was potential for a roll-over, but I squared myself to the trend of the edge as best I could, and gave it a try. Part way down the quad over-balanced, and began to roll; this was happening slow enough that I was able to roll in the same direction as the quad, and get myself pretty much out of the line of descent. The quad went all the way over, and ended up partially on my left leg, but there was never any real pressure on my leg. Ron came down, helped me right the quad, and checked me over, but I came through okay. My shoulder is a little sore, but otherwise not even a bruise nor a scrape. The quad, too, came through virtually unscathed. With some difficulty, we got Ron's quad down safely, and continued on our way.
I'm sure some will be glad to know that I was wearing the proper safety gear, I had on a motorcycle helmet, was wearing long pants and shirt, as well as gloves, so if it had to happen, I was as prepared as I as was going to be. I knew going in the potential of danger, but we needed to go out there, so I took the course which I judged as giving me the best chance of succeeding, and went for it. If I had been on my own, and was confronted with a similar situation, I probably would've said, "nope", turned around and either convinced one of the heavy equipment operators to clear a path for me, or come back another time. In the end, no real harm was done to either myself or my vehicle, but I recognize that I was lucky.
Going over like that was kind of a strange sensation. I've been in a car accident before, and there everything was over in an instant, and I was left wondering what happened. In this case, time seemed to slow down; I was fully cognizant of everything that was going on, and I attained an almost clinical detachment about the situation. I was aware of what was going on, decided how I should act to deal with it, and then followed through with that plan. I'm unsure how long it took, I was going at a crawl, so it could've been 5 seconds or 15, but it seemed longer.
Perhaps God was watching over me today. The situation could easily have ended up much worse than it did. As it is, I didn't strike my head, I was able to roll with the quad, and roll over on my shoulder to absorb the force of the impact. However, I could've broken a limb, or my neck, if I'd been a bit slower to react. They say that God watches over children and fools, and I certainly am a member of both categories far more often that I would like. I just give thanks that I'm able to be sitting here typing this now, rather than the alternative.
posted by Matt at 5:19 p.m.
3 Comments:
Hey! Glad you're not dead.
Bronwyn's comment is now going to grace greeting cards all over the world. It's quite multi-functional.
Funny, Maryanne. I'd be looking forward to the Chinese version; I think it would probably make for my favourite card ever!
Matt, I'm so glad you're okay. And of course God was watching over you!
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