When Tragedy Almost Strikes

I have two little stories to share…I’ll start with the less dramatic one.

Yesterday afternoon I had just dropped the kids off at their art class. I was on a major road and stopped in the left turn lane to wait for the light to change so I could turn across the highway. The light finally turned red to bring the traffic going my direction to a stop. I’m not sure quite why I looked in the rearview mirror, but I noticed a car that wasn’t slowing in the least for the red light. I turned to look at the car to my left who now had a green light and was starting to move to make a left onto the highway–and glanced again in the mirror to see this SUV come barreling through the completely red light. It didn’t slow…not even one bit. The driver didn’t notice the light was red! My heart was pounding, but thankfully the other car wasn’t hit. It made me shake my head in wonder when I noticed the decal on the black SUV…a picture of a Mom, Dad, kids and a dog.

The other happened to my brother-in-law yesterday as well out in Colorado. Uncle J was on his way to work. He was the third car back waiting for a red light. The light turned green for him and he followed the other two cars straight across the intersection. A car came from the other direction, barreling through the red light and hit him at 60 mph. Uncle J’s car was totaled and he was taken by ambulance to the emergency room. The other driver tried to drive away because he had let his insurance lapse, though he didn’t get very far before he had to abandon his car. Believe it or not, Uncle J is now at home recovering…thank goodness. I am SO grateful that I am NOT saying “he is survived by” his wonderful wife and my 4-year-old nephew.

Both of these things happened in the middle of the day. My plea to everyone is to keep distractions to a minimum. When I look around at the drivers in our area, I would say that two out of every five are chatting away with a phone in their hand. We don’t want the tragedies that almost happen, to become the ones that wreck a family’s future.

Two Vehicle accident at a busy intersection via Shutterstock

3 Responses

  1. Jeremy says:

    People seem to be driving stupidly this time of year, especially now that it’s dark during the commute home. Yesterday I got rear-ended because the car in front of me was driving excessively slow. Fortunately it wasn’t a major hit and everyone (and the vehicles) are OK. Very sorry to hear about your BIL’s troubles. 🙁

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