[Shotimes] Almost lost it, aka death by phone

[D Potter]

By an absolute margin of utter luck I am still here tonight. I was at my
inlaw's this evening to help my aged father-in-law who is suffering from
Alzheimer's. The time came to leave, and I and my wife left in our respective
cars since we drove there separately. My boy begged to ride with mom when we
left, and I relented, even though I wanted to take him with me to the corner
store on the way home. Had he been with me, I'd have been a touch distracted,
and this may have been the end of both of us.

The inlaw's neighborhood has a dedicated light that changes right away to let
them onto the main 5-lane drag. The light changes a bit quickly, so I tend to
look before pulling out in case someone has not noticed the light turning red.
As usual, I pulled up to the light and the other immediately turned to yellow
for the cross traffic. I noticed vehicles in both directions moving quickly
towards the intersection, and decided to wait not for the light, but for all
cars to come to a stop before proceeding. I can do this as the light stays
green until you exit the street, and I have seen a few cars on several
occasions not make the stop due to excessive speed, so I felt it prudent that
I wait a second.

A few seconds passed, and two lines of cars proceeding in opposite directions
came to a stop before me. I let out the clutch and the SHO starts moving
towards the intersection. I hit the bump that's right before the end of the
street and know the nose of my car is just starting into the first lane of
cross-traffic, when I see a flash of white out of my left peripheral vision,
then a white, black and red blur in front of me. I didn't have enough time to
react to the vision for it was gone before I had even yanked my foot off the
gas, let alone snap in the clutch. It took me a full two seconds, with my car
still rolling slowly into the cross-traffic lanes to snap myself out of the
sudden shock and confirm what had happened. A large SUV, specifically a black
Navigator, had blown the light. What was even more frightening was the fact
that the driver didn't even hit the brakes as he sped off down the road in
this congested area of the city.

I wasn't going to be able to get out of the car for at least ten minutes for
fear of wetting my pants, so I made a quick right turn and took off after the
SUV after partially clearing my head. A few red lights down the road I quickly
caught the vehicle, and took down the plate number. Gee, the driver was on a
cell-phone. I was mad and wanted to get out and yell at the moron and maybe
hit him, but I kept reminding myself that a day in court will be more of an
inconvienence. I turned back, called the police, and filed a wreckless driving
report with them. A summons will be sent.

While giving my account of the incident to the officer, a few things were
noted. The entrance to my inlaw's neighborhood has a typical set of walls on
either side of the road. The walls are set beyond the minimum distance from
the crossing road to allow for good vision, per law. I had looked to the left
and right before pulling out, and didn't see the vehicle because it was so far
down the road that it was obstructed by the wall to my left. The cop had me
put my car where it had been as I was waiting for the light, and sat in it to
determine how far down the road the SUV had been when I looked to the left.
Based upon my recollection of how much time elapsed before I began to pull
away, he estimated that the SUV was moving at least 70mph but not more than
100 mph on this 45mph street. Not nice words flowed through my head upon
hearing this. I was comforted only in the fact that 25+ over can = loss of
license.

Even though I thoroughly believe that cell phones are a distraction and should
not be allowed for use by persons in control of moving cars, I am not relating
this to inflame this old debate. I will, however, throw this in the face of
this driver. If my son had not insisted on riding with mom, both him and I
would surely be at the morgue this evening due to this idiot's bad judgement
call. I'm sure his lawyer will say he was in a heated conversation, or had
just received really bad news, to attempt to justify his lack of attention to
the road, but this is exactly why cell phones should not be used by people
operating vehicles. I look forward to grilling this idiot over the coals. This
is about more than my own anger. It's about the safety of my family. I plan on
setting precedent in this county where driving problems are seen as a way to
make revenue for the courthouse and nothing more. I plan on holding the courts
accountable for their inactions. I see unsafe vehicles and inattentive drivers
all the time, yet the vast majoritiy of the cars that get pulled over are
those that exceed the speed limit.

As a teenager, during the 80's, I used to cycle down these roads to this same
neighborhood to see what was, at the time, my girlfriend (now wife). When I
returned to the area in '93 after exiting the military, I noted that, while
the traffic had increased by maybe 10%, it was almost twice as difficult to
navigate the roads safely by bike. Why? Because I had to keep a constant
vigilance with my rear view mirror for passing cars. What was I looking for?
People with their arms angled up towards their head...

OK, so maybe I  DID bring the issue up a little bit. Sorry, I guess I'm still
a little wired nearly 11 hours later. I'm having difficulty weighing the 1% of
people that can drive while on the phone against the 99% that can't. I'm for
freedom as much as possible, but only within reason. There are other things
that bother me, like the fact that anyone with a driver's license and enough
cash can walk away from a dealer with a 6400lb vehicle. No one ever mentions
how much distance is required to achieve a complete stop from 60mph when
selling an SUV, nor do they talk about blind spots. I guess they actually want
to sell these things, because if they took the time to explain to a
prospective buyer how easy it is for their SUV to tear through the average
mid-size sedan and smear the occupants all over the road, they might be less
inclined to buy one if not at least encouraged to not drive them at 55mph
through 35mph zones. I remember the old days of SUV's, when the only name in
the game was the Suburban, and it typically was seen moving at least 10mph
slower than any other vehicle. 10 car lengths gap from one behind you was not
uncommon. Now, they are on your bumper, and your interior is lit like daytime
while driving at night. I see them fly down my street, going 45 ina 25, so
they can make it to church on time across the street. They hit the corner and
gun it, often leaving a small squeel of rubber in the process. I can't let my
boy play in the side yard on Sundays due to these people. Mass must be damn
good there, more important than life itself.

Enough of my ramblings (did anyone really make it this far?), they are just my
opinions, take them for what they are worth. I'm going to bed now if I can
sleep.

DP