Almost Copy
Okay, so I was crossing in the crosswalk a month(ish) ago… and a mini-van comes at me… and not at all in a slow-like manner! I turned my head to see it coming at me and NOT slowing up! I yell “HEY, HEY!” …. ERRRRRRT! …the guy stopped in time, but I had my hands on the hood! … There was car touching. Images of me in a hospital bed flashed in front of me. I didn’t yell at the guy as he drove off saying he was sorry… but I let Randie here yell.
You should try the crosswalk at Clay & Lincoln when the high school lets out. Nah, never mind.
Back in 1997, a 9-year old kid who lived with his grandparents three doors down from us raced his bike down the driveway and into the street. He was struck by a van and killed. In this case, however, the woman driving was doing the speed limit and was paying attention to her driving. He’d shot out between two parked cars; there was no way for her to avoid the accident. The blood on the street didn’t wash away for over a year.
People… take your driving seriously. Some accidents cannot be avoided, others can. Always be prepared to act when it can be.
That was you, Brig? Sorry…
Seriously Brig, I am happy you weren’t injured, or worse. I’ve had a few close calls of my own, but not as close as yours.
EofO… I try to avoid the high school area during hours of operation. No good can come of that.
Pete… that’s so sad. My mom, as a small child, was nearly run over by her neighbor who was backing out of his driveway. Mom narrowly escaped thanks to my Gram who happened to be watching.
Yat… Thanks, Yat… It rattled my cage quite a bit. I hope that the fella who was driving pays more attention in the future. I can ONLY guess that he was on the phone… because I was wearing RED that day… I’m just glad I wasn’t seeing red after that.
Yeahs. The comic posted today. Happy to hear you’re feeling more chipper, Brig. That and you survived your auto contact. And, no revelatory spoilers needed on my part today.
Attention spans are so short these days. The lady drives off and in a couple minutes won’t even remember the near run in. Randie considers nearly having to have delt with monstrous hospital and doctor bills, then a life nearly cut short, and her lack of accomplishments. That last part coulda been really inspirational… but, no… she quickly moved onto venting by yelling. Alas, inspiring opportunity lost.
Good thing Randie did not kick that van. I recall a story a ways back of a pedestrian getting nearly run down on a crosswalk. There was no contact of the car hitting him, but he reacted by smacking the car and kicking out a headlight. The tirade was filmed (ah, camera phones) and he was made to pay the car’s repair bill.
Doing a bit of catch-up (ketchup?) here on a coffee shop wifi…
Yat… break to brake.
Pasha… Washington? You may appreciate “Top Chef Seattle” that just started. They’ll be involving themselves to your state’s foodie offerings. Yeh, drinking and bike riding can be a bad idea in the streets. There were some folks in my college dorm that would go off and do something they called “beef on a bike,” after some evening drinking-party’ing. Not exactly sure what they did but it was something to the effect of riding around and running into trees and each other while still drunk. They’d return pretty muddy much to the amusement of both onlookers and themselves.
I’ve actually been yelled at by a-holes who nearly ran me over. The poor darlings…their two-ton vehicles might have been hurt by my flesh and bones.
Pete– same thing happened with a kid in my sister’s high school class, only he lived, although he’s now in the special ed class. It’s as important the kids on bikes know to ride safely as it is for drivers to be aware.
stick…yah… I’m sorry about the non-posted toon yesterday. It was a rough day, altogether. I blame the green fairy. My own dang fault.
Dada… Seeing you on the grill of a Hummer would be a terrifying sight! Will blood stains come off chrome?
Chug… This makes me sad.
My niece, Jennifer, was hit by a taxi in Boston. The cab hit, backed up – rolling over her again, then tried driving off – dragging her under the car.
She lived, but needed a great deal of surgery. The cabbie lost his license, and was jailed for leaving the scene of an accident.
I swear, I still want to find him and introduce him to my friend Mr. Louisville Slugger.
The Auld Grump
Brig – it could be worse. He’s aware enough to be sad for what he’s lost, but he has a good family, good friends, and is determined to enjoy his life to the fullest, anyhow.
Grump – let me know if you’d like some help with that.
A childhood friend, the kid sister of a guy I knew (and was friends with) because our dads hung out, was killed a few years ago by a drunk driver. That alone would tick me off but the truly aggravating part – not this guy’s first time at the rodeo.
Was like his fourth or fifth DUI, and he didn’t even go to jail. Why? For the same reason he hadn’t lost his license yet (and to my knowledge, still hasn’t) – because the family was wealthy and friends with the judge.
And people wonder why I sometimes mutter about the system needing change.
Grump… you’ve got a posse. You let us know…
Chug… He’s a fortunate man….
Grey… I don’t understand this… I’ve seen it many a time (in local stories and friends of friends)… NOBODY should have 4 and 5 DUIs. We need a much more stricter system on this. Let’s form another posse!