I hit a person while driving!!

(From my original Blogspot)

This morning, while driving the early morning violin carpool, I had to swerve at the last minute to avoid hitting a pedestrian. He was walking not very far to the side of my lane on a street where you wouldn't expect to find people walking. He was wearing all black, and I surely wouldn't have seen him except for the fact that he had on shorts and his white calves flashed in my headlights. Why would someone wear all black and not move really far to the side of the road? Oh well. I'm just glad I didn't hit him!

I did hit a pedestrian once. It happened while I was driving my three boys to a birthday party six years ago. There are three main arteries that run through town that are extremely high traffic with several lanes. A bus had just dropped off a group of people, and one of them decided to cross the street where no one should attempt it. There was no crosswalk or even an intersection nearby, which is probably what drove him to it. But unfortunately, he did not check to his left carefully, because when he stepped in the street, it was about 1 1/2 seconds till I hit him. It was just like when we hit a deer a few years before that. I saw him only in time to register the image of a person in my brain and begin to swerve. I couldn't swerve more than a few degrees in that time, so the left side of my car caught him and threw him.

I still remember seeing his shoes lying in the street as they had been knocked off of his body. I had no cell phone, and when I pulled over I asked the observers if someone would call 911. Someone already had. A small crowd assembled, and police arrived. I gave my report.

The observers comprised every kind of person. An old friend of mine happened to be there in the group, and offered me some kindness. Strangers would come up to me, and I hugged a couple as they offered their support. But I was surprised by one women's behavior. She came up to me and in a very angry voice said, "you didn't even swerve!" And she hailed the police officer and gave him her opinion of my driving. Interesting. She must watch a lot of day time talk shows to get such convoluted ideas. Still being in my 20's, I was shocked that a person could make such a blatant false accusation. Having lived a few more years, I know now that there are all kinds out there, and even if I am real sweet, that doesn't change them.

I am so grateful for the eventual outcome of this accident. Of course, when I told my husband what had happened, we both feared losing everything through a hideous law suit. The man I hit was a Hispanic from California, and his family did attempt to sue me personally, notwithstanding the fact that he just stepped in front of my car and I couldn't have avoided him. They lost. He spent three days in the hospital with a broken leg, and my car insurance covered his medical bills. I truly wished him the best recovery, but was glad I didn't have to lose everything over it.

A few months ago I was telling a jogging partner this story. She listened very quietly. Then she proceeded to tell me a similar, but worse story. She actually hit and killed a pedestrian when she was around 20 years old. It was night, and a woman decided to cross the street at the last minute. She made it across most of the lanes, but not quite far enough. Again, there was no time for my friend to react, and she hit the woman. Death resulted. But the outcome was still positive. Initially, the family members of the victim were very upset. But eventually they had some special experiences with my friend, and they came to believe that it really was the right time or this woman to have died. The family now keeps in touch with my friend, and they have exchanged angel tokens to honor the victim.

I guess that I think of these things this morning because of the man in black.