It happened in a couple of seconds. One moment I was driving along in the warmth of my car, listening to Radio 4, heading towards home. I’d just joined the M180. Now it was 6pm and the traffic was moving fast, people wanting to get home from work as quickly as possible. I was either in the middle or outside lane when I saw a large piece of metal tubing lying on the motorway in front of me. I immediately took avoiding action, but swerving or emergency stops are not possible when surrounded by speeding motorway traffic. I felt the metal object strike my front wheel and the immediate deflation. A second later I was on the hard shoulder.
Shakily, I flicked on the hazard warning lights, turned off the engine and reached for my phone to call the RAC. They said they’d come as soon as possible. I rang Dave next – he said, get out of the car and on to the bank. I said, there’s no bank – the land falls away on the other side of the barrier. Anyway, I got out, hitched up my skirt and climbed over the barrier in my heels to stand in the few inches of long grass before the land dipped away steeply. And there I stood, as the lorries thundered past and darkness fell... I prayed for protection from the danger of the traffic, and from any drivers of ill intention. Waiting in the dark I got colder, watching the lights flash past me. Strange how everything can change so quickly, from comfort to vulnerability, sunshine to blackness, all in a moment.
The RAC arrived and removed the wheel which had a section of tyre torn away from it, and got the spare from the boot. I didn’t relish the thought of driving home, but was grateful to have escaped unharmed.
Later, Dave said a front tyre being wrecked like that could have been really bad. I believe I had been protected – I had not been completely alone on the motorway, in spite of appearances. The danger had been there, but the Angel of the Lord had been there too. I’m thankful. I know the truth of this verse - Psalm 34:7 “The Angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and he delivers them.”
Veronica