Many chemicals routinely transported in trucks can produce toxic, flammable, or explosive fumes or vapor by leaking or being intentionally released from a container or reacting with another chemical. These trucks have warning signs on them that tell the trained eye what's being carried. Trained eyes have response books that tell them exactly what the dangers are from the gases and what to do in case of release.
So there you are, minding your own business again, tooling down the highway, heading for town. Up ahead you see one of those shiny hazmat trucks.
There it is; moving slowly along with everyone else. You're being patient but you begin to lose it as you see the big truck not just moving left as if changing lanes, but pulling hard left across all lanes of traffic making every-freakin'-body come to a screeeeeeeeching halt.
Then you see a couple people, probably men, get out of the truck and, rather than put out traffic safety cones or flares while they fix whatever's wrong with their rig, they begin to act strangely.
Suspiciously.
They may pop open cargo boxes on the truck sides and pull out blocks of what looks like clay, then throw that stuff under the truck, douse it with flammable liquid and then toss a Zippo lighter into the pool of fluid. They may be trying to detonate the blocks with the flames. This detonation will heat and detonate the tank of chlorine gas which will cause that gas to be dispersed by the blast.
Downwind. On you. In you.
Here's what to do if you see someting like this.
Quickly determine which direction the wind is coming from and move toward that flow.
If it's coming at you from north to south, move north of the truck quickly.
If it's coming at you from south to north, move south of the truck quickly.
If it's coming at you from east to west, move east of the truck quickly.
If it's coming at you from west to east, move west of the truck quickly.
If it's coming at you from left to right, move left of the truck quickly.
If it's coming at you from right to left, move right of the truck quickly.
Get it?
When you've made this quick move, keep going. Don't stand around and wait for the boom. Move upwind where the gas won't be blown over you and into you.
If you get some of the gas on you or in you, you should get to an emergancy room as soon as possible.
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