close call

[rdsmith3]

I rode to work today and had a close call -- in my own neighborhood! I live on a double cul-de-sac street -- there is no way out, so there is no through traffic.

If you leave my house, you take the first and only left turn and go down the hill to a T intersection. I slow down at the T but do not come to an actual stop because there is rarely a car around. So this morning, I am coming down the hill to the T, about to make a left turn. I see a little car coming from the right at a high rate of speed. There is no signal. I am not sure what he is going to do -- turn left or go straight. I think he just did not see me. So I come to a stop at the intersection and he is headed right towards me. I have to admit that I sort of froze -- I did not know which way to go because I still was not sure if he was turning or going straight. At the last minute I guess he finally saw me, and he made the left turn, going behind me. In other words, he was going on the wrong side of the road.

I sat there for a second, thinking about what just happened, and then I wanted to know who the idiot was (if he lived in my neighborhood). So I turned around and went back to find him. He was probably 17 and he was picking up a kid in the neighborhood, I guess on their way to high school. I pulled up right next to his window and said, "Do you realize you almost hit me?" He said yes, and he apologized. Then I rode off, into the sunrise.

[wncbmw]

I would much rather hear about a close call than a hit! Glad you dodged the bullet!

Teenage drivers are scary. Especially when they are your own!

[DJ Downunder]

It would be nasty to get collected like that...Thinking that they have seen you and they have not...It's every motorcyclists nightmare.

DJ

[iowabeakster]

That sounds frightening. Great to hear that it was only a "close" one. The worst part is being frozen and unsure what to do about it. Deer-in-the-headlight-syndrome.

On one of the few curvy roads in my area, I was nearly taken out by a youngster (I must be getting old ). It was a narrow road on a blind curve. He must have been doing double the posted speed limit on that curve. He was driving a clapped-out compact with bad suspension (obvious by the body-roll). His tires were squealing at the limit of traction. He had drifted very wide and was on my side of the road. I think his eyes were bigger than mine. I would have liked to have had a couple words with him. Not angry words, just some friendly advice.

In high school, the girl whose locker was next door to mine, killed a man (in another car) and seriously injured herself and 3 of our class-mates. She was very, very tardy on a light-turned-red and going about 75 mph. She also lived near me, and before she got her own car, sometimes I would give her a ride home. I let her drive my car home from school one day. That was the only day she drove my car...she nearly took out a fire hydrant and tore up somebody's lawn.

Now that I'm old...I think the minimum driving age ought to be about 30.