I had to run into town this morning to get some things I forgot. When you come into town you go from 70 to 45 to 35 to 25 mph. You also go across a bridge over the Missouri river, which is the 35mph section. As I was coming off the bridge into the intersection there is a Stop sign on the left and right. I saw this small silver car coming from the right, the driver did not even stop, but went right through making a left turn right in front of me! I'm driving our 1 ton truck. I literally was standing on my brake with both feet, both arms braced for impact and thinking this is going to hurt like heck. I was able to stop before impact. I was so close I could not see the window ledge on the drivers door over the hood of the truck. The other driver, an elderly woman, barely even looked at me and kept going. I was able at the last second to lay on my horn. No response. My heart was pounding so hard my chest hurt and I was pushing so hard against the steering wheel my neck hurts now. All I could think of is if I had hit her I could have caused her death. She would have gotten the full impact of the front end. Talked to a fellow EMS provider and told her what happened and she said the same thing. Scared the daylights out of me.
Amazing the idiots in the world isn't it? Not to long back DH was making a delivery, regular Ford truck loaded and a trailer behind it loaded. Keeping a LOT of distance between him and the person in front JUST IN CASE because of all that extra weight... of course someone cut in front of him... and then of course the one two cars in front of her then decided to make a left turn... not from the turn lane... not even from the left lane, nope right there from the middle lane... SLAMMED on the brakes, no blinker, no warning, nothing. So the car behind them slammed, then the cutter slammed, and DH slammed... not enough, ended up hitting the cutter. Had she not cut in front of him it woulda been a near miss... had the moron not decided to make an illegal turn it wouldn't have happened at all... and in the end it was DH who was ticketed, no one else. For 'following too closely" which was the precise thing he was trying his best to avoid... I hate that law. Makes it to where anyone can cut you off, be right in front of you, then slam the brakes and cause a rear ending that's YOUR fault... new car for them, fine and insurance hike for you. That cutter's car was toast, all that fiberglass, but at least no one was hurt. But it's made me even MORE paranoid about jerk drivers. What is their problem anyways?! Do they have a death wish or what? And then there's the lack of manners... not even a "Sorry!" or anything...
Good thing you were paying attention. Too many people don't watch out for stuff like that and get in accidents they could have avoided. Always best to drive like other people are idiots. CYA.
So glad I didn't hit her or have the air bags go off in my truck. Would have looked like a racoon for awhile. My next thought was I'm glad I wasn't both the EMS responder and victim at the same time.
Quote:Rear ended some woman who started to pull out into a merge - you know where you are looking over your shoulder to the left to see traffic if you can merge into it? and she slams on her brakes. I rear end her and she gets out and starts screaming at me. POlice come and the cop asks me to get in his car. And he tells me he has to give me a ticket since all rear enders are the fault of the following driver, but he was making it something light (I forget exactly what it was) because it was the fourth time THAT month that this woman had been rear ended!!
