DIY - How To Get Out Alive Of PossibleTraffic Accidents - Twice A Day

For cardiac patients who can't handle stress, I'm alive and fine, thank you but not thanks to drivers who don't give a damn about anything!

History has the habit of repeating itself and it seems like I'm prone to participate in cases like this. I've escaped death on the road a few times and keep doing it.

I had some business to take care of today and was on foot as walking and fresh air is a must for my health. Temperature has been pretty low lately, this morning there was -14°C and this was the case for the last few days. Before that it has snowed, which means roads are icy as snow is melting during the day and freezing during nights. Roads are not cleaned here as money needs to go into some pockets, besides, they are never ready for these situations, no matter what month we are in.

Today on my way to the doctor I had to cross a street where traffic lights were non existent. Why? Because they think traffic flow is better with a roundabouts, so traffic lights are not needed. This is partly true as there are no traffic jams but on the other hand the life of pedestrians got harder. Once cars leave the roundabout, start speeding and you can escape only if you're lucky or smart.

I was standing on the sidewalk, in front of the pedestrian crossing, waiting for cars to stop. It was a dual carriageway, on the first lane came a driving school car that stopped, I stepped down from the sidewalk, made one single step and then stopped in front of the car. When I saw the school car I knew it would stop as it has no other option but can't trust anyone so I'm only crossing the street once I see the car is stopped.

In Romania you can only get your driving license after taking driving lessons from a specialized and licensed driving instructor. There's no such thing as in the US where your parents can teach you. Here you must do the school and get the exam.

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These school cars are modified specially for this activity, meaning the driving instructor has the same set of pedals on the right side and can step in and take over control any time. This is why I always know these cars are going to stop at the crossing, plus the rules, right?

So I stepped down, made one step but stopped because on the second lane there was a car coming and had the feeling that wont stop. The driver had no intention of stopping even though the low says he must. He was forced to break and could only stop in the middle of the crossing, exactly where I would have been if I would have continued my walk. In other words I would have been under the car. There was less than half a meter between me and the car. At that point I raised my hands asking him, wtf? He was just staring at me, saying nothing, not even an apology gesture.

History Repeats Itself

This was a déjà vu moment as last year I was in the same situation, again with a driving school car but in that case the driver on the other lane didn't stop, passed in front of me with a speed that made my hair fly. The distance between me and the car was again around 30 cm.

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I was standing in the middle of the road looking pretty much like this woman in the photo, asking the driver who was already 20m away, wtf?

In these cases I bet the driving instructor has a good case to show what happens if you don't stop. It was a good lesson in both cases, live!

Twice A Day

On my way home I had to pass the fast food restaurant where the second scene took place. I knew that place all my life, it's a narrow street with two corners, about 15m from each other. Cars can't speed there as there's not enough space nor distance for that. I was listening to music as always and thoughts were running through my head. Crazy thoughts like on which part of the road I should walk now. I need to mention that on the right side there was the fast food shop, on the other side there were garages and no sidewalk on either side due to lack of space. It's good to walk on the left side to see when cars are coming I was thinking, but then I thought it's better on the right side as no matter where the car is coming from, in order to turn the corner it needs space and I'm safer on the right side.

Thus I crossed to the other side, made a few steps and out of the blue, a BMW showed up in front of me and BANG! The car could not stop in time or take the corner regularly as slipped on the ice and hit the closest garage door. BANG! I was a meter away from the car but if I would have stayed on the left side I might have been in front of the car or worse, with both of my legs crashed, between the garage door and the BMW. Fortunately nothing major happened, the BMW was in one piece, the garage door showed some signs and will probably open with difficulty but that's not the end of the world.

You know what's the craziest thing? I've been walking on that road for years, since I was a kid and always on the left side. Today for some crazy reasons I was thinking of what's better at that moment and maybe someone loves me up there and guided me to the other side.

How Many Times?

Many years ago I was coming home from church with my mom. We wanted to cross the road at the pedestrian crossing. There were others already crossing when we stepped down, visibility was perfect, no reason for cars not to see us. I was still keeping an eye on the left side of the road and saw a car coming towards us without breaking and the driver was waving like crazy. This happened in a split second, the next thing I know the car was right in front of us, I was trying to stop it with one hands with my other hand pulled my mom back abruptly so she fell and saved both of our lives.

The car could only stop after 10 or 15m. The driver got out of the car and his first reaction was to offer me money. He took out a bunch of money from his pocket and started counting. I told him to put his money away. I was shouting at him so loudly that the whole street was watching us. It turned out he was driving with broken brakes. My hand got bruised pretty badly, my mom hit her knees but at least we were alive.

Lucky?

These cases make me pay more attention to everything when I'm outside on foot and not only. I can say I've been lucky so far and got out safely from every situation but if I want to be hones, that wasn't just luck. I can't count on the big guy up there to save me every time, I have to take care of myself and that's what I've been doing.

But what about those who are old and can't pay attention to everything? What about them? I'm always helping old people cross the street as I know how hard it is when your eye site is not good anymore, you can't hear well and every move hurts.

What about drivers who should pay attention to pedestrian and most of all, should respect traffic rules! Before Christmas my brother had two car accidents, one each week with the company car. He and his colleague were hit from behind twice. The second time the guilty driver tried to flee the scene and they had to go after him. Like in the movies.

Enjoy Life!

There's been a few moments in my life when I had to look back and realize it might have been worse and also that life is short is not just a saying.

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Moments like these makes you reevaluate your life (if necessary) and make the changes that are needed. Today I'm celebrating, I'm happy I could come home safely. I'm happy nothing bad happened.

Enjoy life!