Every year, just under 2000 people are killed on British roads. In The States, it's around 42,000 and in Australia it's just over 1000 deaths per year. That's a terrible loss of life.
I know that not everyone who visits this blog owns a car but for those of us who do drive around, we are surely dicing with death every time we set off. Most of us try hard to obey the rules of the highway but it is very easy to make a mistake. 100% concentration throughout one's driving career is nigh on impossible. Besides, there are other road users to consider. Some of them are speed freaks, impatient or dilatory. It is hard to make allowances for their actions.
The title of this blogpost is "Almost" because I was thinking of times when I almost had a road traffic accident. I guess that if we were all honest about it, most drivers will remember "almosts" or near misses. You play them over in your mind and gradually you might forget them. Life, like the tarmacadam, rolls on.
On Tuesday, as I was heading to McDonalds after my walk on Bamford Edge, I paused at the traffic lights on Archer Road waiting to turn right. Soon red turned to red/amber and then to green. I advanced in order to turn. Ahead of me was a public bus and it kept coming! This was enough to make me wake up. Of course there was a filter at these traffic lights and in order to safely turn right I needed to wait for the green arrow. It could have so easily ended with a low speed collision and it would have been my fault entirely. It's not wise to spar with a bus!
I was reminded of a similar situation twenty five years ago. It was a Sunday morning and I was taking our Frances to a drama audition at Cheethams Music School in Manchester. We were on a dual carriageway and I prepared to turn right at some lights. Again I should have waited for the green arrow but I didn't and as we crossed the other carriageway a fast car had to screech to a halt to avoid colliding with us. You could even hear the noise as he or she slammed their brakes on. Briefly, I looked in my mirror and saw the other car. Thank heavens they had their wits about them that morning.
I couldn't easily stop because of the configuration of the roads at that junction so I just drove on, grateful that we had narrowly avoided a crash and serious injuries.
The only significant car accident I have ever been involved in happened on a Scottish lane late one night in February 1978. I blogged about it here back in 2013.
Have you got any "almosts" you would like to explain?
The almosts when someone almost hits you are the ones that really frighten you. You see them coming and are just sitting there waiting for stuff to happen. My claim to fame is gently rubbing against someone or something. I scraped the side of my car when I was too close to one of the huge waste containers. Yes, I've collected some car insurance.
ReplyDeleteWas it a young woman you gently rubbed against? Don't get arrested Red!
DeleteBack when Carlos and I had first met and begun long distance dating, he came out to California to see me. We took a few days to visit my parents in the Sierra Nevada Mountains and I took backroads for a much more scenic route.
ReplyDeleteAs we were driving through a small town I missed a stop light and drove into the intersection as a car was coming on my right. It just so happened that we simply missed each other but I still remember that to this day and think, "What if?"
When I have driven in rural America I have found the lights to be less noticeable than in England. It's great that you didn't collide because now we can all enjoy "I Should Be Laughing".
DeleteYears ago I lived in Calgary and worked at the Foothills Hospital. After an evening shift, I was driving home. I was at first set of lights which meant I was turning left onto Highway #1. The light turned green for me and it took an extra two or three seconds to get the car into first gear. Just as I got the gear engaged, a car went shooting through the red light, probably doing about 100km/hr. I would have been hit on the driver's side and I imagine I would have died. I'm so thankful I couldn't get into first gear that night.
ReplyDeleteI am sure there are many more "near misses" than actual collisions.
DeleteMy "almost" was an actual accident and completely my fault. I was on my motorbike (little putt-putt scooter actually) and at a five-way intersection for the very first time, when the light went green I checked the three main roads and took off slowly but forgot to check over my right shoulder for that fifth small side street. I collided with a car which was also going slowly so I wasn't hurt and neither was my bike or the car, but I did collect a streak of green paint on my helmet when I somersaulted across the hood.
ReplyDeleteI bet that shook you up Elsie.
DeleteThis is why I no longer drive.
ReplyDeleteYou have your own personal chauffeur.
DeleteWe have a lot of mini roundabouts and recently I have had 2 occasions where " give way to the right" has not impinged on the other driver's thoughts! If I was a gung ho type there would have been trouble...and bent cars!
ReplyDeleteHell hath no fury like a Frances scorned.
DeleteYou are right, Neil. Every time we are out on the road we risk life and limb, and as you rightly point out, even if we are careful and follow the rules, others may not.
ReplyDeleteOn foot, you always have to watch cars and bikes; even if the traffic light is green for your pedestrian crossing, it is wise not to just rush across but watch out for any vehicle that may not have seen (or respected) the red light for its lane.
My Dad used to be a reasonably good driver, but as he got older, his reactions couldn‘t keep up with everything happening at the same time. He had many near misses, and it came to a point when I just did not want to get into the car with him at the wheel anymore. A minor accident caused him a shoulder injury and some damage to his and the other car (it was my Dad‘s fault), and a few years later, he managed to set the car onto a low dividing wall on a parking lot - nobody was hurt, but it finally made him understand that he better not drive anymore. Later, he would have been physically unable to drive anyway, and not that much later, mentally. A slow decline over several years and very sad to witness, as for him it meant giving up independence and a sense of freedom.
I am sure that there are many senior drivers who drive on after passing their "best before" dates. Thank heavens your father died of natural causes in the end.
DeleteI trained drivers of certain vehicles for a time and concentration is the key. I could usually tell within a day who would would make it through training easily and who would struggle. The worst was a lad who played in a band frequently at night and was often sleepy the next day.
ReplyDeleteI can only remember having to hit my cars brakes hard once when a vehicle turned in front of me. I am lucky I guess. While it did have power brakes, the Humber Super Snipe was a heavy car and compared to modern cars, it didn't brake that well. I avoided the crash. The sole reason being the woman wasn't concentrating. It is a worry now with so many in car distractions.
The cockpit of a modern car can be as complicated as that of a jumbo yet with screens, dials, cameras and switches. In my view, keeping it all very simple is better for driving safety.
DeleteWell in my horse riding days, one funny accident. Riding along a small country lane we met an old fashioned car with a running board. Sue the horse went up the side of a very steep bank, but as the car slowly went past she slide gracefully down onto his running boar and of course buckling it. The other horse accident was more serious for the horse, two boys waved a towel in front of her and she careered into an oncoming car, ending up in a RSPCA hospital for months. Now it is dangerous to take horses on roads but then.....
ReplyDeleteI've had some near misses over the course of my driving career. I dread the day (if I live that long) when I can no longer drive as a car is necessary where I live. There is absolutely no public transportation. My most recent encounter was when I was going through a traffic circle and when I entered it, a car was speeding around it and I misjudged how fast it was going. I pulled out in front of him and he was most definitely angry as he honked his horn quite loudly at me. Luckily no collision, but it would have been deemed my fault I think. The only accident I have ever had was when someone rear-ended me on a major highway at a traffic light. I remember seeing her coming at me through my rear-view mirror and thinking, "She's not going to stop!" I can still hear the thud and feel the crunch. I was on my way to school. Luckily I wasn't hurt much, and when we both got out of our vehicles, she pleaded with me not to call the police. But I did. (she had no insurance). Luckily the policeman who came to the scene was the husband of my principal, so I had a legitimate excuse for being late to work! I was driving a Honda Civic and she had a big van. You can guess that my car had all of the damage.
ReplyDeleteYou were very lucky in Scotland. In a modern car, all the electrics would turn off and you would not be able to open the doors or windows.
ReplyDeleteBy far, the one that I think about the most was one evening when I was driving back home after visiting my brother in the hospital after he fell off a grain bin and broke his leg in about 50 places. I was driving on a four lane road, two lanes going in one direction separated from the other two opposing lanes by a grassy median. This road has entrance and exit ramps much like our interstate roads do. I had my cruise control set and was slowly overtaking a car in the slow lane when I noticed that the headlights coming towards me appeared to be in our two lanes. When I realized that the indeed were in our lanes, I hit the brakes hard and swerved in behind the car I had been overtaking and maybe a half second later a car went flying by going 70 mph in the very lane I had been driving but in the opposite direction at 70 mph. Had I not been focused, I wouldn't be alive to write this comment.
ReplyDeleteI suspect the large number of car pedestrian deaths is all about lack of focus. Everyone around me either has earbuds on, are looking at their smartphone or both, pedestrians AND drivers.
I am sure that all of us who have driven long enough have had a close call or two or even been in an accident. One of my greatest fears in life is harming someone in an accident.
ReplyDeleteI can't remember any "almosts", Neil. The only time I totaled my vehicle was when I drove through a puddle that was deeper than I thought and the van stalled in the middle of it. Two people came to push me out but the van had to be towed and the mechanics declared it totaled as water got into places in the engine that water is not supposed to be...
ReplyDeleteI suppress memories of these things but behind that convenient veil of amnesia are half-remembered incidents where I was in too much of a hurry but as it turned out was lucky.
ReplyDeleteThat's a poignant tale (one link removed) re Pat who rebuffed you.
On a totally different topic, I was shocked to see you write "pain in the ass" in a comment on another blog. Is "arse" too rude?
I stopped walking along our main road because I have had to jump into brambles four times to being hit by oncoming cars. 80K is far too fast for roads built for horses and carts.
ReplyDeleteI certainly did foolish things behind the wheel when I was young. Fortunately, none of them were close calls in terms of a dangerous accident. I did have a couple of minor fender-benders that were my fault, though.
ReplyDelete