Tweet
Or how situational awareness can save your life. Part 1 of 2.
Scene 1: Many years ago I am a teenager on a beautiful sunny summer day on my way to the beach. I'm doing about 90 MPH in the fast lane of a four lane highway in sparse traffic. I come over a rise in the highway and the entire highway is filled with stopped cars so I slow down and come to a stop about half a car length from the pickup in front of me.
I look in my rear view and see a car come over the rise also doing around 90 MPH except he isn't slowing down. As he gets closer I see that he and his passenger are in an animated conversation and he is looking at his passenger, not the road in front of him. Screw this, I cut my wheel and drive up on the grassy median next to the pickup.
The guy in the pickup looks at me like I have two heads and starts to open his mouth (no doubt to ask me what I thought I was doing) when the guy locks up his brakes and all that can be heard is screaming rubber. The guy wound up finally coming to a stop a few inches from the back bumper of the pickup. The pickup driver looks like he just shat himself and mouths a silent THANK YOU to me.
I don't know how many cars would have been involved in the domino effect of that almost accident but I honestly don't think I would have survived it.
Scene 1: Many years ago I am a teenager on a beautiful sunny summer day on my way to the beach. I'm doing about 90 MPH in the fast lane of a four lane highway in sparse traffic. I come over a rise in the highway and the entire highway is filled with stopped cars so I slow down and come to a stop about half a car length from the pickup in front of me.
I look in my rear view and see a car come over the rise also doing around 90 MPH except he isn't slowing down. As he gets closer I see that he and his passenger are in an animated conversation and he is looking at his passenger, not the road in front of him. Screw this, I cut my wheel and drive up on the grassy median next to the pickup.
The guy in the pickup looks at me like I have two heads and starts to open his mouth (no doubt to ask me what I thought I was doing) when the guy locks up his brakes and all that can be heard is screaming rubber. The guy wound up finally coming to a stop a few inches from the back bumper of the pickup. The pickup driver looks like he just shat himself and mouths a silent THANK YOU to me.
I don't know how many cars would have been involved in the domino effect of that almost accident but I honestly don't think I would have survived it.
Comment