Head on collision. Such a disaster. I recently got home from a small vacation and heard about a head on accident near our home. 3 people were killed. The details weren’t available but it seems that it shouldn’t have happened. The people involved were the neighbors of a friend of mine and the son of another friend. Another friend was in the traffic blocked near the site and drove past it when the traffic cleared. They told my wife that it was terrible. The place that they described the location of the wreck is in a area that you wouldn’t expect this.
The area has a good view. There was three cars involved. The oncoming car, a car being passed, and the car passing the other car. There could have been a lot of driving mistakes made at the same time. Did the oncoming car driver have his mind diverted for only a second and not see the car coming? Did the car being passed block the person passing either speed up or not allow the passer to get back into the lane he came from? Did the passer not see the oncoming car, or did he misjudge the distance needed to pass? Was the driver of the car being passed driving in a manner that frustrated the passing driver? Did the passer pull out and late and give no one time to react?
A simple change of any of these scenarios could have saved lives.
A little courtesy helps. We all have made driving errors. I am thankful for drivers that have prevented me from having an accident. I know that I have prevented some too. Most of us have passed other cars and been frustrated with the driver in front of us.
I know about the head on situations. I have twice been in one. Once as a passer and once as the oncoming car. The one where I was the passer, the car that I was passing, sped up and wasn’t going to let me in. When I started out I had plenty of room and I was committed and had to go to a high speed to get back into my lane. The other was a line of oncoming cars wouldn’t let the passer back into his lane. I was able to pull off the road to allow the passer clearance. When learning to drive my dad taught me that nothing was worse than a head on collision and to do whatever it took to prevent it.
Leave early. I allow 15 minutes extra, with the time starting from when I am behind the wheel. This usually gets me to where I am going, from 20 to 25 minutes early.
Drive safely, be courteous and be aware that other drivers make mistakes also.
