I was driving home the other day and saw a wreck. Saw it actually happen right in front of my eyes. It wasn't bad. Nobody seemed to be hurt. But when something like that happens, it always reminds me of how FAST wrecks happen. In the blink of an eye.
I was pulling up to the intersection and the light was green and couple of car lengths ahead of me, two cars were just coming up to the intersection and a van made the turn right across the intersection in front of them. It happened fast but in my brain I was thinking "Oh, wow, that van should not have turned right then those cars are really close to the intersection Man I would not have turned in front of those cars I don't think they have time to get all the way across Oh." BAM.
They didn't have time to get all the way across. One of the cars made it but the other one slammed into the back of the van, spinning it completely around. The guy beside me and I were the next ones to arrive at the intersection and he pulled over and I pulled up and whipped out my cell phone but he beat me to it and I saw him walking to the vehicles, talking on his cell phone.
I hesitated but others were pulling around and the people were getting out of their van and everyone seemed OK, so I put my phone away and drove off also. An older woman and little girl got out of the van and the helpful guy was leaning in the car, talking to the driver. It seemed OK. I drove on, shaking my head at the woman who was not paying attention and caused the accident.
And then I thought two things. First, the woman in the van was an older woman with gray hair. The little girl had to be her granddaughter. And, second. I just realized that I was the NEXT VEHICLE AT THE INTERSECTION. The car in front of me was the one that hit her. If the person in the car in front of me had been driving slightly faster and I had been slightly closer to her, I would have been the one to hit the van. I had just dropped my grandson off at daycare. He could easily have been with me.
I was saved from hitting that van by about 20 seconds. 20 seconds. How your life can change so drastically, so terrifyingly in 20 seconds. Scary, isn't it?
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Man, She Is GOING TO HIT THAT CAR...
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4 comments:
So very, very scary. Every time I get in the car with my three little ones I'm terrified of something like this happening. Hope everyone was alright...and that you are not too shaken up.
That IS scary, and you'll probably find yourself thinking about it more than you realize. Yikes. Very affecting.
I think about things like this all the time, how just a few seconds can change your entire life. In just the blink of an eye a quick event that you have no control over can totally change you forever.
I lost a good friend and her two daughters a couple of years ago when all three were killed in a head-on collision with another driver, who lost control of his truck and skipped the median. If they had left home just a few minutes earlier, or later, they'd still be with us now. It rocks me to think about that.
Glad everyone was okay!!
Life is short....make every day count. I lost my best cousin this year to a head on collision. (We miss her). The driver was intoxicated and they were on a bridge....no way to get around the car heading right for them. The other passenger lived to tell the story but he continues to suffer mentally and physically every day. He has had 7 surgeries since the accident.vj
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