Narrow escape

[cjsmith]

I scared the crap out of myself on the road today. Stopped at a red light, I saw that I was in the wrong lane (of two); the street name was poorly marked, and too late I realized I wanted to make a left. I was on the right-hand side. So I did, illegally I'm sure, the same thing many drivers would do: I backed up so that I could pull into the left lane. I think, but am not sure, that I even made a slight pause after putting the car in reverse so that anyone approaching could see the lights for a moment before I moved.

I totally DID NOT SEE the car that was sneaking very closely along my right side in order to try to make a right on red. (Think of where a "blind spot" might be, on the right, then make it within inches of the back corner of your car).

I did look behind me, but over the wrong shoulder. (Some drivers never turn around at all....)

That could have been BAD. It wouldn't have meant injuries, but it would have been expensive and avoidable and stupid.

Comments

[jupiter29.livejournal.com]

Sometimes we get out of a situation like that for no reason other than pure luck. Today after filling up with gas, the woman at the next pump over pulled out and turned left, so I pulled out and followed. And then she stopped, so I stopped, about ten feet behind her. And all of a sudden she started backing up. Turns out she wasn't leaving, she was trying to turn around to face the other way. Luckily, her car curved enough that she missed me by about six inches, and that's with me managing to back up about 12 inches. :) And when she finally saw me, the look on her face made it clear she had just realized she never looked. Ooops.

Once my heart got back under control, all I could do was be thankful that it turned out the way it did. I am likewise happy that you learned your lesson it a relatively easy and cheap way. :)

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Yeah, some days pure luck is what saves us. I don't exactly aspire to be that kind of driver in general, of course :), so whenever it happens I try to pay attention to what I could have done differently.