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Thursday, February 20, 2003
Just out of harm's way..
It's sad to watch car accidents happen right before your eyes. It's like the story Steve Korch told at retreat about the guy who got hit by a van. Unfortunately, when you're in a car accident, you're not hit by the full force of God's love.. it's something a lot less pleasant. While driving to work this morning on the 101, I witnessed a small, but dangerous accident occur. Describing an accident verbally can be difficult/confusing, so bear with me, I'll try my best. Here's a little background..near the Whipple Ave. exit on the 101 Southbound, the carpool lane begins. Normally, traffic in the lane right next to the carpool lane is really crowded while the carpool lane is relatively empty. That held true today. And for some reason, people have the tendency to brake unnecessarily when they drive over a hill. So, as usual, there was a pocket of traffic right over the hill.
I was driving in the number two lane (crowded one right next to the carpool lane). As we got over the hill at Whipple Ave., a Toyota MR-2 two cars ahead of me, who seemed to be in some kind of a rush, wasn't prepared for the slowdown. At this point, the driver had two options to avoid a rear-end collision: brake hard, or change lanes. He chose the latter and went for the carpool lane, which is normally empty..normally. Just as he was switching over, some car and a van were passing on the left. Amazingly, he managed to squeeze completely into the lane, right in behind the car and in front of the quickly approaching van. He must've seen the van in his rearview about to hit him, so he panicked and tried to change back into the number two lane where he came from. By now, there wasn't any room for him left in the lane, so he swerved back into the carpool lane, slamming into the front right corner of the van with the back left-side of his car. That impact made the two cars bounce off of each other, with the van going toward the concrete center divider and the MR-2 back into the number two lane where an opening emerged. The van was braking so hard that his tires were smoking as he came to a stop after scraping along the center divider. Meanwhile, the MR-2 ended up changing 4 lanes and pulling over onto the shoulder. I didn't get to see the damage on the van, but the MR-2's rear left-side was smashed in.
This entire ordeal happened so quickly.. like from the MR-2's perspective it would be like: brake hard, swerve left, right, and left again, hitting the van, and then pulling over.. all in a matter 5 seconds. During this exchange, I was only two cars back. This could've easily become a bigger accident had the van or the MR-2 lost control and spun around or slammed into more cars. I'm thankful it didn't. This is the second minor accident I've witnessed that have been only 2 or 3 cars ahead of me. The other one was a rear-ending on a freeway onramp about 6 months ago.
Driving tips gleaned from this which bring to mind life lessons (and their appropriate out-of-context Biblical reference):
1) When you're in a rush or something, be extra careful while driving => rushing through life is pointless, even dangerous at times.."Be patient, then, brothers, until the Lord's coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop and how patient he is for the autumn and spring rains." (James 5:7)
2) Don't follow the car in front of you too closely => be weary of what you're following.."But for those who are selfÂseeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger." (Romans 2:8)
3) Be prepared for slowdowns around hills => watch out for things that may be a hindrance in your spiritual journey.."I urge you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away from them. (Romans 16:17)
4) Don't switch lanes super quickly without checking => don't make brash decisions, especially without checking with God first.."For the foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man's strength." (1 Corinthians 1:25).
5) Bouncing back and forth between lanes is highly not recommended => if you are indecisive and try to play for both teams, you'll probably end up losing.."No servant can serve two masters." (Matthew 6:24)
10:10 AM Albert
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..a life in DUO