I still don’t like waiting under a freeway overpass for a red light. I have my P38 so I won’t starve.
“I still don’t like waiting under a freeway overpass for a red light...”
A few minutes after the 1989 Loma Prieta quake (7.1) I found myself in exactly that situation. Rushing home with my kids, I got stuck in a line of traffic trying to cross under an overpass.
Looking up, I saw the traffic on top was also stopped. People were out of their cars, yelling and pointing to my right, at something going on in traffic ahead of them. They were also apparently trying to get the cars behind them to back up.
I looked to my right to see what they were pointing at, following the trajectory of the overpass, and I could not believe what I was seeing.
The 880 freeway, about two blocks further on, had collapsed into a rubble sandwich.
The portion of overpass with traffic jammed and panicked people trying to get traffic to back up, was now threatening to topple in domino fashion.
And I was under it.
Some folks, over and under, continued honking and trying to get traffic to back up. Not me.
I jumped curbs, drove on wrong side of street, U turned, got stuck among other drivers doing the same thing. Then grabbed the kids out the car and RAN.