My last post was Rep. Ken Paxton's reply to my concerns concerning Texas S.H. 121, in particular and how TxDot "handled" it. Soon after the post, I received explosive new information from a Texas government official on TxDot and the S.H. 121 affair. It also brought into question some of Rep. Paxton's statements. I was actually driving home after visiting some friends to post that information when my life changed for the worst.
I had just entered the Dallas North Tollway, whose managing entity, NTTA, was the ultimate last-minute "winner" in "who builds S.H. 121. Heading northbound through a very narrow construction zone, the car to my right suddenly started to merge into me. There was nowhere to go....the shoulders were closed off. I instinctively moved left and started to breke when suddenly a construction cone went bouncing off my hood. What happened next was a blur of careening off of concrete barriers, swerving out of control to the right, trying to pull back to the left, careening off the barriers again, construction cones flying, being repeatedly smashed against my left driver's window, until finally the car came to a stop in the left lane. The other driver had of course fled the scene.
I stumbled out of car, dazed and in some pain. I quickly saw why I was unable to get my Infiniti under control: the left wheel was shattered and the tire shredded. The entire left side of the car looked as though someone had taken a sledge hammer to it. The insurance adjuster later estimated the damage at $10,000.
Standing in the left lane, I was subjected to "the finger" and anger retorts from a number of drivers for blocking traffic. The typical Texan Passive-Agressive Driver. One good soul actually stopped, pried the construction cone out of my car's front end, and sat it 10 feet or so behind my car to make the "accident" more visible.
At this point, I was beginning to feel dizzy and, leaning up against the barrier, tried calling AAA. But I couldn't read the phone number on my card. I called my wife from speed dial and she called AAA and conferenced me in.
I had been on the phone no longer than 20 seconds when from out of nowhere a tow-truck pulled up. I asked the driver if he was AAA. Cellphone still held to my ear, I heard the AAA Representative say that they did not dispatch anyone yet and hadn't even ascertained where I was.
I told the tow truck driver that I would wait for AAA. He said that he had received a "call from the Dept. of Public Safety" stating that I was a traffic hazard and he was to move me. This all occurred less than 5 minutes from the "accident". How did TxDot know my car was immobile in the left lane? How did they know so quickly? Was it a coincidence that there was a tow-truck less than a minute away?
By this time, the tow truck driver had hooked my car up to his flatbed and was dragging it up onto the truck. I was extremely dizzy, my neck was in pain, and I sank down to the pavement unable to stand.
The next thing I remember was the driver helping into the tow truck. His instructions were to take me to the first exit and leave me....in this case, a grocery store parking lot on Lemmon Ave in Dallas. Not the best of areas. I was armed, but was aware that I was too impaired to defend myself. I managed to call my friends and the driver told them where I was.
Sometime later, my sense of time was still off but long enough for me to climb/fall out of the truck, sit down on the curb and have a couple of cigarettes, DPS, the paramedics and my friends arrived. The paramedic kept asking me if I wanted an ambulance. You tell me; you're the paramedic. He said that since I seemed coherent (I would differ with that), that I had to specifically request an ambulance. I tried to stand up, the blood rushed from my head, my neck was really starting to hurt and my left arm/left side of my face was numb. I told him to call the ambulance.
After a bumpy ride in full restraint (I had been relieved of my handgun at this point so what was the difference), I spent the next 5 hours in the Parkland Hospital Trauma Center. I was CAT-scanned, ultrasounded and probed in places I don't want to discuss. In the end, they said I was bruised and battered but in one piece. Armed with pain medication, my friends took me home.
When I finally found my car the next day (it was mysteriously missing for 6 hours), it had been obviously ransacked but nothing was missing. Fortunately I was aware enough at the scene to have my friends remove my briefcase, GPS, and radar detector before the car was towed off. In that briefcase was the explosive new information on TxDot......and it wasn't very flattering to TxDot. Some would say unflattering enough to launch an investigation and a lawsuit.
So was this just some freak "accident" where at the narrowest point of the construction zone, I'm "accidentally" forced off the road? Is DPS just that responsive, or did they seem to know about the "accident" a little too quickly? And what are the odds of a tow truck just "happening" to be seconds away? Or was this a carefully orchestrated "warning" to stay out of TxDot's way. Having an electronic toll tag and just having passed through a major toll plaza, they certainly would have had the ability to track my location.
Accident or Assassination Attempt? We may never know for sure. But if I have another mysterious "accident" between now and the time I've verified and am ready to post my bomb-shell on TxDot and S.H. 121, the question will be answered.
I'm bruised, battered, out a $500 deductible, and forced to drive a PT Cruiser rental car (or as the rental rep called it, a "Neon in a Prom Dress" for the next 3-4 weeks until my Infiniti is returned repaired. But I am also resolute in my desire to expose the TxDot Scam....and I am armed.
Until next time,
Mr. UnLoadingZone
Watching his Back
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1 comment:
Sorry for your accident.
Every inch of the tollway is monitored by video cameras. These cameras are fed into a control center where a pretty nifty piece of software does things I don't understand to detect accidents, debris, slowdowns, etc. Once something is detected, it flags personell at the control center, and they dispatch the appropriate services.
It is normal for them to tow a vehicle blocking traffic, but they should have dispatched police and/or an ambulance to the scene at the same time. Further, it is inexcusable for them to have a tow truck driver, who has no medical background, to move you. This is a serious issue, and I urge you to follow up with NTTA on it.
An injured person should not be moved except by trained medical personell.
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