Me too...
When I was two months away from my 17th birthday, a 5 year old riding a tricycle came right out in front of me as I was driving down a neighborhood street. I was actually driving slower than the speed limit, but there was a car parked on the curb right in front of a driveway and the kid came flying down the driveway and into the street in front of me. I only saw a blur of something for the 1/2 second it took for the kid to move from in front of the parked car into my path. There wasn't anything I could do to stop in time. The investigating detective told my dad that even as an experienced driver, he wouldn't have been able to have stopped in time either. I'll never forget that moment and I wouldn't want anyone else to ever have to go through something like this. Just a few feet or a few seconds can make a world of difference.
Luckily there were no parked cars and I saw them playing by the street, oblivious to me coming down the street so I already had slowed to below the limit half expecting one pf them to pop out into the street. As I neared, one of them peeled off and ran down the sidewalk so I was four possibles now down to one. She makes a hard left into the street. She doesn't look back at all. She didn't even realize I was there until she heard the grind of the tires on the pavement as I killed the engine coming to a stop. I'll think I'll have visions of her standing in front of my car for awhile. I'm so glad I have this particular car and was driving it today or a number of lives would likely be changed forever.
That is defensive driving. Use horn for alert. Your ability to see what was possibly coming is how I try to drive. I look far and wide to watch the patterns on the road, interstates as well as side streets in my neighborhood. I've never had a crash no matter how minor or who's fault..
Careful, some of those idiots behind you might not be driving a C7 when you torpedo the brakes! This is coming from somebody that has been blasted from behind while stopped at a red light......although we were stopped for about 10 seconds before numb nuts came along.
Dasyatis,
Yup thats why I give a quick brake and make sure they can handle it, otherwise I'll just go thru the light slowly. Considering the 10 seconds "blasted from behind" while stopped. I hope it was a safe maneuver. Sure doesn't sound it. That kinda story makes me not want to drive.
Sorry you went through that, especially that new in your driving experience. Definitely something that will be burned in your memory forever, and even though you couldn't have done anything differently and it wasn't your fault, you can't help but feel the tragedy. Did the child survive the accident?
Yes, you definitely do feel the tragedy. The child did not survive but passed away within a couple of hours of the accident.
Very sad, sorry you had to go through that and now have that memory to deal with.
God brought me through it and I'm at peace with what happened. It's just sad that it happened. The child would have been about 32 right now. I'm so glad the OP didn't hit the child he had to brake for.Very sad, sorry you had to go through that and now have that memory to deal with.
