On December 27, while JP was still out of school for the holidays, I dropped him off at the Green Hills YMCA on my way to work so he could work out and get some shots up. It would be nice to be 14 again, wouldn't it?
I pulled out of the parking lot at the YMCA - in the heart of Green Hills - turned right, then stopped in the left hand turn lane at the intersection of Green Hills Circle and Hobbs Road a couple of blocks away. There was little or no traffic at 7:35 a.m. As I waited in the turn lane, I saw what turned out to be a Land Rover Defender pick-up truck approaching the intersection on Hobbs Road, from my right. I could see that the driver was going to turn left onto Green Hills Circle.
My first thought was "wow, he's going fast."
My second thought, as the driver turned his vehicle left at the intersection, without stopping, was "he's going to cut that turn awfully short."
My third thought was "he doesn't see me."
My fourth thought, probably verbalized, was "Oh shit!"
Then, impact. He cut the left hand turn so short that the front, driver's side portion of his Land Rover Defender - a nice truck, actually - collided with the left corner and front of my GMC Yukon. He was cutting through the right hand turn lane at the intersection when he hit me going full speed.
I could see him, clearly, through his windshield before he hit me and he never saw me. It was odd, almost like it happened in slow motion. Luckily, I had time to brace myself against the steering wheel before the impact.
I take care of my truck, so I was pissed, really pissed, when the accident happened. I leaped out of my truck and unleashed a stream of expletives that would have made a veteran sailor proud. In my mind, I already was thinking that my day was ruined; I would have to spend days dealing with his insurance company; I would miss work; and I would be stuck in a shitty rental car while the repairs - which would take weeks - were being done. And, now, I'd be driving a wrecked truck through no fault of my own.
The other driver was extremely apologetic. I calmed down after a few minutes of conversation with him. He's a couple of years older than me and grew up here. This being Nashville, it turned out we shared several mutual friends. I called the police, made a verbal report, and after a bit we left, fortunate that both of our trucks were able to be driven.
I wasn't hurt. He had a cut on his forehead, between his eyes, that was bleeding slightly. I suggested he get it looked at just to be safe.
In the end, I was glad no one was hurt and more glad that JP or Joe wasn't riding with me when the accident occurred. This is especially true as it relates to JP because I don't want him to be overly cautious or afraid as he begins driving and gets his drivers license in a little over a year.
My takeaway and what I explained, painstakingly, to JP was that when you're driving, even if you do everything right - and I certainly did - another driver may do everything wrong or simply not be paying attention, as a result of which you can be in a traffic accident.
The more I thought about it, though, I realized it went deeper for me. I'm a very good driver. Always have been. I'm also a fearless driver, having never been in a motor vehicle accident that was more than tapping someone else's bumper in a parking lot or in a line of traffic exiting the interstate. More importantly, no one has ever hit my car or truck out of carelessness or negligence on their part. That just isn't something that has happened to me.
Because of what I see now was my great good fortune, as they say, I've lived in a bubble of naïveté for many, many years when it comes to driving. I've assumed - incorrectly, as it turns out - that as long as I pay attention and don't take unnecessary chances while I'm driving, I'll be fine because everyone else - the proverbial "other guy" - is going to do the same. In other words, I have driven fearlessly and assumed that I will never be in an accident because I am not going to cause an accident.
Not to overdramatize things, I've learned that everything I believed and felt is wrong. It's as if I suddenly realized the laws of physics actually apply to me, too. I can do everything right and still, someone could run a red light at an intersection, hit me broadside, and kill me or someone in my family. That's a sobering thought, of course.
For the first time since before I turned 16 and was driving guy mother's station wagon around the neighborhood, I feel slightly nervous at certain points when I'm driving. Crossing a busy intersection. Driving in heavy traffic at a relatively high rate of speed. Not all of the time but some of the time. It's been an unpleasant lesson to learn at age 56 and, frankly, not one I wanted to learn with JP on the cusp of becoming a licensed driver.
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