Have you ever been driving down the street and seen a pedestrian on the side of the road standing in or around a clearly marked crosswalk? And you know the law is to stop, but you hesitate, thinking, if you wave this person on and the other speeding traffic doesn't stop....well, indirectly you may be responsible for killing some poor schmo?
Yeah, my day was like that. There I was at the newly designed intersection, you know the one, over on Little Falls. Zig-zag trail, paint, signs, sign....to make the passage safer. And there I was obeying the law like all the drivers want...waiting my turn, in the crosswalk, stopping in the center...
You know this intersection right? The trail is five inches from the red light. And yet cars manage to careen around that 90 degree turn and accelerate into 45 mph neglecting the speed signs, trail signs, pedestrian and bike signs, and striped crosswalk. Clearly it's the bikes causing the problems.
Like when I stopped in the center face to face with a black SUV. Who stopped. And waved me on. Into the intersection. Onto my death. See, I didn't trust the teeny red car I saw duck behind the SUV so I hesitated at this front passenger bumper...
I had a front row view to what death looks like right before it hits. And all I could do was stare at both bumpers. I wanted to see the driver's face. I wanted to turn around to see the horror in the SUV's face. But all I saw was my front wheel and two steel bumpers. I missed the whole thing.
I guess I had to. Since I was already paused in my track stand waiting for it to happen there wasn't much to do except, well, actually turn my wheel to avoid the collision. Yep, it was that close. She hit the crosswalk at a good clip, caught sight of me, panicked, and slammed on the brakes. There was a momentary loss of control as her car skidded even closer and then the hands that flew up as a sort of surrender...like, "I know that was my fault I'm so so sorry"
It was a bit like my dream. The one where I die. Since I've had that dream I've had two of these unbelievable close calls. The first the pedestrians on the sidewalk screeched in horror and I'm sure this one brought on adrenaline rushes across the street. Neither one did a thing to me. No, that was close, no heavy breath, no missed heart beats. Just, ho hum, here we go again...
Paint that's Red
Almost dead
Crosswalk White
Fight or Flight
Wasn't Santa, Wasn't Santa
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