In Grand Rapids, Michigan today, a man in a wheelchair got stuck to the grill of a semi-truck, and was driven 2-3 miles down the highway at 50mph. I am not making this up. Now, I don't want everyone to think I am making fun of people in a wheelchair, that would be incorrect, I am really just truly confused. Here is the link to the article in the Detroit Free Press.
Apparently the man was crossing an intersection when the truck driver got the wheelchair lodged into his grill. He apparently did not notice this. Now call me stupid, but five hundred pounds impacting your grill might cause me to take notice. I mean does that mean you can strike a deer in a truck and not even know it?? I am pretty sure an old Asian lady in a Honda Civic weighs about 500 pounds. That seems highly unlikely that he would not notice something. Anyway, the truck proceeded to go 3 miles at 50 MPH before a police officer pulled the truck over and alerted the driver. The man was freed from the grill shaken, but otherwise unharmed.
My personal favorite quote from the article is someone calling 911. They told the police dispatcher "A semi-truck just came by and he does not know it but he has a gentleman on the front of his truck that's in a wheelchair and he's pushing him down the road." That is an incredibly eloquent way of freaking out, which is what I would have had I seen this happing on my local freeway.
My last question is what kind of tires the guy had on this wheelchair. Apparently they were able to handle three miles of 50 MPH. Must have been some heavy duty rubber on those things. I guess wheelchairs are better built then I thought. Apparently the chair, which was motorized, still worked after being untangled from the grill. If I were the manufacturer of that model you can bet this claim would be in my next adrvertising campaign: "Tough enough to take on a MAC Truck." I guess I'll just have to file this away under the heading "will never happen again in my lifetime."
Later---JD
A deep dive into carpets, shame, and identity
5 years ago
1 comment:
Wheelcharis have bicycle wheels, which ought to be able to handle 50 MPH just fine.
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