It is often remarked that in certain parts of Saskatchewan you can watch your dog run away for days. The east-west artery that is Highway 1, Canada’s main roadway from coast-to-coast, certainly lives up to that landscape. It is mostly flat and devoid of trees, just vast prairie and endless sky interrupted with the occasional small town. And dog. Because fifty minutes prior, a dog was the only thing concerning me on this stretch of road. A random dog walking along the side of Highway 1 by Whitewood that I felt was not long for the world if he were this foolish. Highway speeds are 110km/hr with most going faster. Even in perfect conditions, it is impossible to stop on a dime.
Driving along, I continued listening to a true crime podcast as Ham slept in his doggie bed in my backseat. Winnipeg back home to Saskatoon was a long car ride for him and I tried breaking it up with plenty of stops to stretch. Our next one would be Regina for dinner but we had over an hour to go. Passing through Indian Head, SK, I counted down the time again marvelling at how flat it was and how far I could see. In particular, I started to note how I could see a semi in the distance approaching the highway from the northside. It didn’t appear to be stopping. And neither was a Ford F250 heading into Indian Head from the south.
“What are these fuckers doing” I thought to myself lowering my speed to approximately 90km/hr as I tried to predict if they would pause before crossing. They didn’t. The Ford F250 crashed into the front driver’s side of my Volkswagen as I slammed on the brakes attempting to stop in time. My immediate reaction after this was to look up at the semi, facing what I initially believed to be my impending death. Instead my eyes locked with the shocked glance of two Punjabi drivers who looked like my car just magically materialized out of thin air. I quickly did a turn onto the same road to avoid being hit from behind and started to panic when I realized I couldn’t open my door. I was not aware of the damage yet and terrified of being trapped if my car caught fire.
I’ve had moments of fear in my life. I’ve had moments of anger. Of anxiety. This incident–this collision decision–culminated in a variety of emotions all at once. Including gratitude. I may have been shaking violently but both myself and my puppy weren’t badly hurt in the moment (the real physical pain would settle in a few days later). We were alive.
The driver of the Ford F250 admitted fault and was charged appropriately. He also shared that he didn’t look in my direction as he was also watching the errant semi. Those drivers didn’t stop at all.
