Close Calls
I’ll be the first to admit I’ve done some pretty stupid things in my life. Once, when I was in high school, I was running late getting home and a friend advised I go a different way from her house than I usually do, she claimed it was faster. I did, only no one warned me about the steep hill that led to a bridge over a rather large creek… right after a 90 degree turn… that you can’t see in the dark. I hit the brakes but slammed my right back end into the guard rail taking out my tail light. However, that didn’t scare me as much as either of the close calls I’ve had this week. Two in two days, and had there been an accident? Neither would have been my fault (and I would have sued some butts off).
The first was Tuesday morning as I was taking Elijah up to his Tuesday School. The highway that we live on is a state highway and it travels through eight states. But in our part, where I drive about 8 miles to get on the interstate, it’s one lane each way with a gravel shoulder. Speed limit is 55 miles per hour. Yeah, you know the type.
Anyway, as I was heading North, it was just me and another SUV behind me. We’re going up a hill and here comes three vehicles going towards town, traveling South. Two SUVs with a car between. The car was my concern. I guess he was impatient or something, and wanted to pass the person in front of him. All three vehicles were really traveling too close together. As we go past, he starts coming out of his lane into ours, right alongside me, I had absolutely no time to react. It was amazing that we didn’t hit, as far out as he was sticking, or that he didn’t hit the people behind me. I honestly don’t know if they moved or he did, as I was too worried about us, but there was no accident.
The second time was last night as I was headed North again, this time on the interstate, two lanes going each way this time, with a grass median between the different directions. I was traveling in the left lane letting three vehicles come onto the highway from an on-ramp. First a cement truck, then a car, then a red Dodge Caravan.
As I’m passing the Caravan first, she decides that she is just in way too much of a hurry to fully get on the highway before changing lanes and (without a signal) she starts coming into my lane. I mean, really coming into my lane, right next to me. She didn’t even look to see if anyone was there… obviously. As calmly as possible, I honked and hit my brakes and went into the median a bit on my left. She backed off and I passed. I got around the other two vehicles and back into the right lane. She flew past me, then, on the left, and did not even look at me. She was going fast, too. I made note of her license plate because I was pissed, not because I felt that we or the vehicle were hurt, it was 843RYE, MO plates.
Why are people so inconsiderate? Seriously! How big of a hurry can you be in to be driving like that? It’s only going to get you there a couple of minutes earlier, it’s not worth risking your life over!!
