Niseko

OK, Martin and I were on way to Hakodate from Niseko (together with 3 other locals we run a bar in Hakodate and we were hoping to get some work done). There was road construction near Yakumo, and the road was down to one lane. Guy with red flag, etc. We stopped behind a truck. Another truck stopped behind us. We were chatting... suddenly WHAM! WHAM!!! Car totaled.

What happened: a truck did not stop for the construction. He plowed through the truck behind us. That truck shot across and off the highway. Then he plowed into us, and pushed us into the truck in front of us.

Luckily the truck directly behind us, whose driver left the scene in an ambulance, clipped us in the back, because it turned my truck to the side a bit, and that kept my car from crumpling when the truck that caused the whole mess plowed into us too....

We're fine. How Martin escaped with his legs not broken even he can't explain. If we had been in a smaller car, if the guy behind us hadn't been there to shield us from the blow, if the steel rod we had in the back of the car had shot through one of our heads...

Just because you're a safe driver doesn't mean you're safe on the road. All the same... drive safe on the mean streets of Hokkaido!