Inches.....

A couple weeks ago that was seriously all that kept me from being in an accident.  It had rained heavily overnight and on my way in to work there are places on the road where water collects. There was a white GMC truck next to me and as we came up on one of the roadside puddles I had already backed off the gas and was letting him pull away from me. I was in the left lane- big white truck in the right. 

When they hit the water it was a nice big spray/ wave that came off the right side of their truck. Quite pretty actually. The driver handled it fine at first and all seemed good.... Until it wasn't. Suddenly they swerved halfway into the lane ahead of me. As quickly as that happened the white truck was sideways in front of me. I thought for sure I was about to T-bone them. Then I thought- I hope they don't flip it! Their truck was raised up some and anything is possible. 

As all of this happened in the flash of about 2 seconds, (but felt like slow motion) I had already started braking. All of a sudden the white truck spun again and now the tailgate and bumper were literally inches from the front of my truck. Of course their brake lights were all lit up and I can still see it in my mind. At this point I was literally standing on my brake pedal and bracing for impact sure to come. Thankfully it never did. 

Just like that they were back in their own lane and we were both still moving forward. A short ways up ahead the road curved left and opens up to 3 lanes. There's also an exit. The white truck took the exit. I figured they needed to go change their pants after that. 

While this could have been avoided or minimized had they slowed down some before hitting the water, their driving and handling skills once it all started going south were quite impressive. I'm betting they learned their lesson about hydroplaning that day. When it happens, it happens fast.