Thursday, September 20, 2007

On miracles...

I am an excellent driver. I must be. I've never had an accident or a speeding ticket. I'm sure I would qualify for those safe driver discounts that the insurance companies offer. I probably have a safe driver discount and I'd know that if I paid any attention to any of our bills, which I don't. So, with such a driving record, I can't believe that I almost killed a man today with my car, but I did.

I do have to say that most days I am extremely busy, a little stressed out and in a hurry. Today was just the opposite. I was having a nice, quiet, calm day. I left the office to go put a "SOLD" sign on a listing. I was sitting at a stop sign, looked both ways, and pulled out. As I was pulling out, I saw a motorcycle coming right at me. Right at my driver side. By some kind of absolute miracle, he missed hitting me. I pulled out right in front of him. I never saw him when I looked. I remember that the two little yellow lights on either side of the headlight were lit up when he almost hit me, but his headlight was not on. I never saw him coming.

I was so in shock that I had to pull over. He never stopped. I shook for 20 minutes. It's amazing how fast something like that can happen. If I had hesitated one extra second, he'd surely have hit me broadside. He may have died and my life would never have been the same... in one brief second.

So I'm sitting here thinking... if motorcycles are that easy to miss... why would you ride one? I don't mean to be passing the blame to the motorcycle person. I'm not at all. I'm simply saying.. do they know how hard they are to see at times? It was on a tree lined street with lots of foliage so there was lots of background scenery. He just blended in. I wish he could know how sorry I am that I did it.

I come from a long line of non-motorcycle people. I think my nephew went through a motorcycle phase once but it was short lived. I've never thought much about them until today.
I'm glad that no one I love rides a motorcycle.

When Catie was little she made a few trips to the orthopedic surgeon for a problem with her hips. I remember that he had a sign up in his office that said, "Buy Your Child A Motorcycle... For His Last Birthday". I think I get it.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sending you a hug, Holly! I know how you were affected. :) I'm just glad that nothing worse happened.

LaurieG said...

I've heard that ER doctors call them "Donorcycles". My BiL drives one, and he fell off. He was lucky (!) that he just "shattered" (the dr's word) his collarbone. Don't be too hard on yourself. We had a similar incident where we got rear-ended; a couple of guys were racing and we couldn't have seen them before we turned in front of them.

Shell said...

WOW- I am so very glad you are okay! That is a huge scare- and totally understand the feeling.
I agree - they are "Donorcycles". I have seen too many of them smashed up in accidents. Not my favorite accident to respond to in my former life as a EMT.
I agree- they really should think about the fact they are hard to see!
Hugs!

LisaBe said...

i'm so sorry--how scary! i hate those moments. my dad used to have a similar view of 'cycles, calling them a neurosurgeon's best friend. a dear friend of mine in college had one--not a crotch rocket, but a more modest model--and he took safety very seriously. and he told me that the average life expectancy of people who bought the so-called crotch rockets was 13 days. DAYS.

anyway: glad you're all right and the rider is all right. these things make us all more cautious; that's the one positive in this.