Note to Self on Staying Alive . . . .

Don't EVER attempt a u-turn, in the middle of the night, with no moon . . . in the middle of the highway . . . right in front of traffic!

So there I was, cruising down the highway at 65 MPH at about 10 PM and there was a van stopped on the side of the road. The car in front of me signaled and got in the other lane to go around them and give them a wide birth, but when I tried to follow suit, the van suddenly turned on his left blinker. It crossed my mind that it was a strange time for them to merge back onto the highway, right when I was trying to pass them, but I figured that they were in a hurry and they had seen that I had got into the other lane to avoid hitting them. Then came the most unexpected thing possible: they kept turning, and attempted to do a u-turn . . . in the middle of the night, with no moon . . . in the middle of the highway . . . RIGHT in front of me!

I have always heard people say that when something extremely dangerous happens that time slows down. They are right. Time seemed to stop for a second and I saw, to my horror, that they had turned left in an attempt to turn around, and even though they weren't in my lane yet, I could see that I was going to hit them square in the side if I kept going straight. In this split second span of time my mind searched for possible routes around the van.

First thought: Brake!

[Braking action]

Second thought: Go right. Around the back end of the van in the learned, drivers ed. fashion.

Reason(s) for failure:
1. There isn't enough room to turn that sharply; the angle needed would most likely roll the car right into the van killing everyone. Possibility of failure: 98% - 100%

[No action]

Third thought: Go left. Around the front of the van, off the side of the road.

Reason(s) for failure:
1. This action means turning in front of the van which could cause collision to passenger side.

2. Also, this action requires going into the ditch off the road which might result in rolling the car, blowing out the tires, running into some unseen obstacle in the weeds, or running into the fence. Possibility of failure: 50% - 80%

Decision: Turn left.

[Turn left]

Keep in mind that these thoughts were going through my head in less than a second of real time because that was about the reaction time. That being said, I did not literally think all those words, but the general ideas were passed through my brain but it was more literally like this, "Thatwayroomnotenoughotherwaychancegonow!" But that's no fun. : )

So I turned left.

It wasn't an immediate, direct drop off the edge of the road since there was a turn off into a field.

So this is where my decision took place

After I turned left.

Just before the drop, right when he almost hit me.

The danger of him hitting me was mostly over but now I had worry about the side of the road.

When I was airborne. Well, my front half. I thought I was going to roll here.

All I was trying to do was maintain control and get back on the road.

I almost hit the post here.

The fear started fading slightly here when I realized that I was still alive.

This is where I started hyperventilating.

And so there you have it. The closest I have ever come to dying. Now, I KNOW, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that I had someone watching over me and dad. There were so many things that could have gone wrong and killed me, dad and the people in the van. I could have rolled, t-boned, got t-boned, blew a tire or ran into the post or the fence. I must say, even though I had help, my reflexes were very quick too. I'm sure playing video games helped that, believe it or not.

Anyway, I'm glad me, dad and everyone else involved are alive.

{Peace}

P.S. I hope you enjoyed the illustrations. : ) You can thank Adobe Illustrator CS4 for these images. : )