Monday, August 07, 2006

I'm an Idiot

Hey, I almost died and took another person with me today! It was just one of those stupid momentary lapses in judgment when you're behind the wheel, and it led to a now-or-never moment that had me shaking and thanking God for his angels.
Just after Rosetown the highway becomes two-lane for about three miles (maybe a little more), and I was behind a caravan of cars who jumped at the chance to pass a slow-moving (aka, legal speed) truck and trailer that had held us back for quite some time. As I was in the passing lane behind all the other vehicles, unable to floor it for their apparent lack of hurry, I noticed that my lane was growing slimmer and slimmer, and the trailer was drawing closer and closer to my right side. Behind the trailer was another vehicle, so I was left with three options: 1. Slam on the brakes-- but I was near enough the end of my lane that I would end up flying straight into the ditch at 120 clicks. 2. Slam on the brakes and swerve right-- but I'd hit that other vehicle behind the trailer. 3. Rub right up against the bumper ahead of me and pray that I'd be able to squeeze between the truck and the end of the guardrail in about half a second. I chose option 3...complete with an uttered, "Jesus!"...and swerved into the right lane even as the truck was still in my peripheral vision. I don't know exactly how much room I'd had on all four sides of my car in that moment (definitely no more than a few feet), but as soon as I realized it'd worked out, I realized how stupid I'd been and was super happy for the mechanism in us that takes over when there's no time to deal with fear.
The moral of the story is this: don't obey the speed limit, some moron out there will risk anything to pass you!

1 Comments:

Blogger Carla said...

Kjersti, I feel as though you need a driving lesson from me and Mr. Peeps.

5:47 PM  

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