I know this strays from normal LGBT topics, but I need to get this off my chest. The other day, I was on my way to my friend's cabin in the mountains when I rounded a corner and someone in a large pickup truck was coming from the opposite direction, in my lane. Thankfully, they swerved out of the way just in time, but it all happened so fast that I barely had time to register what was happening let alone react. Not to mention I probably would have been killed, compared to the rest of the vehicles out there my car's like a tin can. It just makes me so angry that I could have so quickly and easily died because of this driver's stupidity, all I could think of following the incident was my parents getting the call from the police that I had been killed. I just can't get it out of my head, what should be the best years of my life are still ahead of me, and it pisses me off to no end that they were almost stolen from me. It bothers me that there's no way to track that person down, I really want them to lose their license, and I'm hoping that they're just as disturbed by their actions as I am. I'm having some trouble letting this go, it's almost like I don't feel as though I have the right to forget about it. Has this ever happened to anyone? What did you do about it?
I have indeed had a similar experience. When I was an insurance agent, I was driving home on the highway in a terrible snowstorm. I was behind a semi that was probably going 40, and I couldn't get around it because visibility was so bad. Then out of nowhere, this semi comes barreling down the highway behind me probably still going 55 in spite of the weather. I was panicking. I really thought I was going to die and my obituary was going to contain the phrase "semi sandwich". The semi kept coming, and I couldn't see to get off the road. It pulled right up on my bumper, and I tried to flip my hazard lights on, but they wouldn't turn on. Then, finally, after slowly inching closer and closer to my bumper, the semi finally went around me. My heart was pounding. To this day, I'm terribly afraid of semis and highway driving. I've been getting better, but every time I'm on the road, I keep worrying about all the stuff that could go wrong. I also had a car wreck in 2010 where I took a turn too hard, lost control of my car, and slammed head-on into a concrete barrier. My seat belt went slack, and my chest bounced off the steering wheel since the car was an early '90's model and didn't have air bags. The front of the car was completely pancaked and forced my right foot completely sideways snapping the ball of my ankle off. Later, the cop who took pictures of my car after the wreck told me I was lucky to be alive because it definitely could have killed me. That one was undeniably my fault, but it stuck with me. I didn't drive for over a year after that. So, yeah, I know how you feel. Stuff like this is not easy to get over. It's really scary to think that we could die doing something completely mundane, and when something like what you experienced happens to you, it can leave some serious psychological scars. As with any trauma, it really helps to talk about it. I feel you, man, and I wish you the best.
Thanks, that makes me feel a little better. I wasn't sure if this was something that most people would just let go because most of my friends who drive have had something similar happen and it doesn't seem to bother them a whole lot.
I can't really say that I'm had any near collisions on the highway so I can't really attest to the feeling of helplessness it must feel like when something like that happens. Unfortunately the only thing that can be done is to drive responsibly and defensively and hope that others are doing the same. I think a lot of people, myself included sometimes find driving to be a mundane part of our day. It really isn't when you think about it. When you're in control of 4000 pounds of metal rolling down the highway it is anything but mundane. Most of us can appreciate the importance of being focused on driving. It's too bad that this view isn't shared by everyone though. Somewhere out there someone thinks it's more important to text their friend than pay attention to the road or get behind the wheel after drinking. I really can't comprehend how anyone can do that and yet it happens all the time. It's mind boggling and it certainly doesn't ease my mind about being on the road. There really ought to be stricter penalties than just a fine or some other slap on the wrist penalty. I'd like to see licences suspended personally. I know everyone makes mistakes and accidents can happen but when someone willfully neglects to pay attention to the road then they should not be allowed to drive a motor vehicle.
Yeah, as much as I'd hate to admit it (Because it would make it harder for me to drive) it really would be a good idea to make it more difficult for people to get their licenses and make them have to be higher quality drivers to drive, along with stiffer penalty's. But it's just kind of a facet of life when you live in a country as large as ours. The automobile is a revolutionary way of transportation when you think of it, it really has become overwhelmingly important here and not being able to drive can place you in a stark disadvantage. There are a lot of job you can't get without car, you might not be able to go to school without a car, get your paychecks, healthcare, etc. So it's not hard to drive, and it's not always easy to loose that right either.
I had an accident once that was totally not my fault. I was driving, three friends with me in the car. There were a couple of cars coming towards us (behind each other), obviously on the lane to our left. Then all of a sudden, the last car decided he wanted to overtake all the other ones in front of him. So he drove directly towards us, on our lane, as he was overtaking them. An idiot could've seen he was never gonna make it in time, but apparently this guy didn't realize it. We were going 55 m/h, so there was no way we could've just hit the breaks. It all happened so fast. We were in the car yelling "get out of the fucking way!", and from the movements of his car it was obvious he was panicking as well. Then in a split second I decided if he wasn't gonna get out my way, I'd get out of *his* way, and I pulled the steering wheel to the right, into the grass, ending up against a tree (there was a tree about every 60 feet; pretty impossible to miss when you're driving 55 m/h). It probably took max 10 seconds from the time he began the overtake to the time we got off the road. I was so so mad at that guy. This was on a road people from that area call "the deadman's road", because this stuff happens a lot, usually with bad results. So especially if you know that, why on earth would you go and risk other people's lives like that. I did nothing wrong that day, but with a little bit of bad luck and an ass of a driver I could've been killed. And so could my three friends. We were actually really lucky; we had lots of bruises and superficial wounds, but apart from a broken rib and some badly strained muscles we didn't have anything real bad. Luckily, since this was a real accident, police were involved, and he received full blame for the accident. Still, I completely understand your anger. It's annoying people like that are still allowed to drive a car. I just hope he was as shocked as I was and he learned from it.
Yes I was in a terrible accident it does happen so fast it really does that's the scary part my car was totaled well the engine and it was a Mercedes Im happy I wasn't killed so so happy it was the scariest moment of my life. I was scared to drive for a while after. I have my moms range rover now and she got her Bentley. This vehicle feels much safer to me than any of my other vehicles although the escalade was big there was something left to be desired about it. It didn't feel.... Idk it idk what it was about it.... I hated it? Haha it was too big. Being in my dads Aston Martin I don't feel safe in it either there is something about it maybe the way he drives? But idk. I think range rovers are my car my one and only. My first car was a Mercedes ML 350 that was a safe feeling car to..... I miss it.
