What in the NOT-HEAVEN is wrong with people??? I'm beginning to think that most of them are just idiots. Stupid idiots with no common sense or regard for life and limb. Even their own!
Sunday afternoon, I left for town. The weather was overcast. No rain. No sun. Dry road. I stopped T-Hoe at the stop sign where our county blacktop road comes to a T with the county lettered highway. The speed limit on that highway is 55 mph. Many people drive faster. It's a long way between towns.
I always take care when pulling out onto that highway, making a right turn to head into town. There's a hill about 50 yards to the left, where cars come up over at a high rate of speed. I can't see them, and they can't see me until they crest that hill. So once I pull out, I have to get up to speed in a hurry, lest a car come over that hill while I'm in the act of pulling out.
From my position at the stop sign, I can see nothing to the right. There's a rock bluff blocking the view. The long bridge is only a couple car lengths from where I pull out at the stop sign. It doesn't matter, because I'm in my own lane going that direction. Well. It SHOULDN'T matter...
On Sunday, I stopped. Checked to the left. No traffic. Looked to the right, just in case a car was coming off the bridge and turning in to county blacktop road. They sometimes cut the corner short, but then again, they can't really see me sitting there until they get past that rock bluff.
Anyhoo... I checked again to the left. Nothing. I pulled out.
SWEET GUMMI MARY! A CAR WAS COMING AT ME HEAD-ON!!!
A little gold sedan was passing a pickup truck on the bridge! It was over halfway across the bridge already, coming straight at me. I jammed on the brakes. Sat waiting for the collision. There was absolutely nothing I could do. You can't avoid a car coming straight at you at 55+ mph, with only 50 feet of road between you. No ditch for me to go into, because I was at the concrete side of the bridge.
I guess the pickup truck sped up a little. The red car behind it was hanging back enough that the little gold sedan slammed on its brakes and cut back behind the pickup. Probably missed T-Hoe's bumper by less than 6 feet.
Welp! I had the adrenaline shakes for the rest of the drive to town. Nowhere to pull off.
Here's the crazy thing. The road is NOT marked with the double-yellow-stripes NO PASS zone on the bridge! Even though there is barely enough room on each side to avoid hitting the concrete side walls of the bridge. Absolutely nowhere to go if somebody is over the line. AND, there is not enough time for a car to pass and get back over after passing, because that hill is coming up where a car might be ready to speed into sight. Not to mention cars like me coming out of the side road.
Not that a driver such as this would obey the NO PASS zone anyway... Hopefully the driver got enough of a scare to never pass on this bridge again. I'm sure he would have been killed if we collided. Me too, if his body came out of his windshield and into T-Hoe's and hit me!
I'm glad T-Hoe is a behemoth. Even though his doors make close-parking difficult.
4 comments:
It should be standard knowledge everywhere, you DO NOT pass ANYTHING when crossing a bridge. Double lines or not, it's a BAD idea!!
I'm so happy a crisis crash was averted in the nick of time. Whew!
River,
I was very lucky, even though my scratchers that day were not. I'll take LIFE over a jackpot any time!
I know you are not a driver, but even YOU know NOT TO PASS ON A BRIDGE! Good thing the other two drivers were paying attention, and made room for that idiot to get back into his own lane.
Well, what can I say, the driver must have been in a hurry and very young and inexperienced. Just glad you were alert enough to brake and give them time to get behind the truck. Defensive driving for you and the truck driver! Glad you survived!
Kathy,
I'm guessing it was a young impatient driver feeling the need for speed. I was so busy looking at the truck and other car, hoping for a miracle to avoid the crash, that I didn't get a glance at the driver.
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