As If It Were Foretold

A while back, I barely missed becoming involved in an auto accident. It was one that could have certainly been avoided had a driver not yielded their right-of-way to another. I came within inches of smashing into the minivan of elderly couple who hadn’t realized the need to yield themselves to another lane of traffic. Bygones.

But it was as if it were foretold when the occurrence repeated itself. This time it came with consequences. Luckily for me, I was not involved. I was a witness, however.

A fellow co-worker was travelling in the left lane while passing cars to his immediate right. Upon reaching the front of these stopped cars, an older gentleman drove out from a gas station driveway and tagged the co-worker’s car. The woman at the front of the line was trying to be nice by allowing the older gentleman to enter the road on the assumption that he was going to turn right. She mentioned that she didn’t see a turn signal showing an intent to turn left which led her to the assumption of a right turn. The area, known for its heavy traffic, prompted the older gentleman to hasten his entry to the street, ignoring the fact that he had two lanes to cross, not just one.

The end result is exactly what I would like to avoid by getting this point across: Follow the rules of the road as they are written. If someone is wanting to enter the road in which you are a part of, the burden is not on you to create a clear lane of traffic. The burden is on them to find one. I understand the dogmatic idea of doing unto others as you would them to do unto you. However, to quote a line from S.W.A.T., “Sometimes doing the right thing isn’t doing the right thing.” Below is what happened when someone tried to do the right thing.