Yesterday I came within a breath of killing a fourteen or fifteen year old boy. I thank God I was NOT distracted, but was paying attention to my driving.
I was going a safe and legal speed on a street near schools. I was in the left lane. Without warning a boy rode his bike directly in front of my car.
I do thank God I was paying attention or he would have likely been dead, and I would have had an irreparably damaged heart.
It looked like he was going as fast as he could and was doing some sort of maneuver to get across to the other side of the street fast. But I saw his face and immediately slammed on my breaks and turned to the opposite side of the street-the lane nearest the center at the same time. I had to turn. Though my breaks stopped me, if I hadn’t, he would have been hit – he was that close.
I again thank God I did not coming “screeching” to a halt, but my breaks stopped me immediately as I was turning into the other lane.
No one had been coming towards me in that lane, and I only just now realized no one was close enough following me for me to have him or her hit me. I think my swerving was in sync with my turning.
He biked to the other side, obviously shaken. I put my window down and he yelled, “I am so sorry!”
I yelled back, “Thank God I didn’t hit you, but from now on BE CAREFUL. He looked as if he was waiting for me to scream and yell – but I didn’t. I just breathed a sigh of relief and drove on.
So many circumstances were right to leave the boy unharmed, and me not grieving along with his parents.
I felt this was important enough to write as sometimes we all get busy while driving.
I don’t drink, text, or put on makeup and drive. I have talked on the phone and changed my music…both of those are distracting too.
Texting while driving is responsible for over 16,000 deaths and is the number one cause of a teenager driving.
Adults do it too. I’ve seen so many adults talking on phone, eating, texting or doing something other than driving!
So many unnecessary deaths and accidents are caused by not paying attention! Ironically, last week I felt like I hadn’t been doing so, so I wrote a note and put it near my odometer. The note said ‘PAY ATTENTION.”
Tags: Abuse, accidents, child, dad, daughters, death, deaths, drinking, driving, family, moms, safety, teenagers, texting
Relax, it's just Life! 
April 10, 2015 at 7:16 pm |
This is unexpected coming from a blog called “Relax, it’s just Life!”.
April 16, 2015 at 2:37 pm |
Sweet. I love surprising someone! Just playing-really I did stay relaxed after the emergency moves..and in writing this post I hoped to share that even in emergencies you don’t have to loose it. If you stay relaxed and focused it will be better for everyone. Also, honestly, don’t we all get distracted? The thought of that kind of an accident put me on my attention toes. Life will always have events that seem to trigger our emotions – but melded with intellect and calm response we can relax. After all 🙂 it is just life!