The Three D's

“It’s not enough to be a good driver. You have to be aware of every other driver on the road. They could be drunk, distracted, or dumb.” My mom likes to say. This is what I like to think of as the three Ds. 

It might be the greatest piece of advice that she’s ever given to me. Monday night on the way home from work I was crossing an intersection. There was a SUV in front of my car, and a car behind me. The SUV in front paused for a moment, waiting for the cars to our left to come to a full stop and then they crossed. I followed a full car length behind when I glanced to the left. I saw a car at a full stop and I heard and then saw a black truck speeding past that car. I stopped just in time for the truck to pass between the SUV and my car without hitting either of us. 

It was terrifying but not the worst near accident I have encountered. I was more angry than fearful, for a number of reasons. 

1.      No hazard lights or horn blowing-This truck didn’t slow down when it ran the red light, so I can only guess that they had an emergency. Of course, the road they were flying down doesn’t go in the direction of any hospital, so maybe they were rushing home. However, no hazard lights were flashing and the truck passed in silence. There was no evidence that they were breaking the law for a necessary cause, nothing to warn drivers like me that they are coming. Pure happenstance made me look in its direction. 

2.      I almost ran a red light-The intersection where this happened has a light that turns quickly. It’s worse than driving down Broad Street. So, I went under a yellow light, which I never like to do. 

3.      Reckless driving-Nothing points to an emergency, see #1. This means it’s likely the driver was reckless, which I consider to be a combination of distracted and dumb. Whether they were on the phone, talking to another passenger, or just took their eyes off the road, they endangered my life and that of everyone else of the road. It was reckless. Worst-case scenario they were drunk at 8:30 PM.

4.      Near death-Up until now, I’ve made numerous mention of my life and how I was in danger but I’ve also been thinking of the other cars that road. Especially the SUV in front of me, if they had paused a moment more before crossing, the truck would have hit them on their driver side. 

5.      Disappointment in myself-I know there is nothing I could have done to prevent this from happening. I know that nothing serious happened and I can only hope that the driver gets a ticket in the mail. Fingers crossed those cameras the city has been bragging about actually work. If I could change one thing about this, I would have whipped my phone out, taken down their license plate number, and reported them. Next time, they might hit someone. 

I don’t want to lecture anyone, but don’t drive drunk, distracted, or dumb. Maybe you drive the same whether you are under the influence or not. Maybe you can drive while texting, calling or fiddling with the radio. Maybe you’ve never been in an accident or gotten a ticket. 

Maybe another driver on the road isn’t as awesome as you are. If I hadn’t been paying full attention to my surroundings I would have been hit. The truck was going upwards of sixty miles an hour and wouldn’t have been able to come to a full stop. It’s called defensive driving but I much prefer the three D's. 

Question: When was the last time you saw someone driving drunk, distracted, or dumb?