Hang on…this is a long one!
This morning when I woke up, I tried to think of a post to write. But nothing came to me. For those of you that know me, you know that I firmly believe that when we are meant to know something, it becomes made known to us. We just have to pay attention. So I didn’t write anything. Between waking up and this moment of writing this post, something very powerful became made known to me and it probably saved my life.
45 years ago, when I was in high school and learning to drive, I took a Defensive Driving course. This was for those students who wanted more than just the regular Driver’s Ed. Always one to be up for a challenge, I enrolled. At 7 a.m. a bus would come by to pick several of us up and take us to a place where firefighters trained. There we learned to drive in ways that would help us avoid an accident. We learned how to maintain control of a vehicle while going at high speed weaving in and out of cones. We learned how to get ourselves and our vehicles out of harms when another car was heading straight toward us. And we learned what to do if we went into a huge and sustained skid so that we would not lose control of a vehicle, go off the road, or roll over. The firefighters would spray the tarmac like surface with water and foam and we would take off into it, slam on the brakes, get into a spin, and then have to steer our way out of it. I absolutely loved the challenge of this course and particularly learning about getting out of a skid if we hydroplaned or hit black ice.
And, most importantly, I remember our teacher insisting that we practice these fairly frightening maneuvers over and over again until there was no fear, we remained calm, and our instincts took over. I remember him telling us that it was those instincts that would save us if we ever found ourselves in this kind of out of control situation while driving. From that day until today, I have never really had to use what I learned.
But today, those skills practiced and learned so long ago, kicked in instinctively and automatically. And they probably saved my life.
I was heading home from the small town close to where we live on a two lane frontage road that runs parallel to the highway here. I was going about 60 miles an hour…actually under the 70 mile an hour speed limit here. I was relaxed and not thinking at all. It had started to rain and at that moment it seemed to all of a sudden start dumping. I remember thinking this might be hail coming.
Up ahead I saw that a truck had rolled and was in the ditch. There was a woman standing outside of the truck. My first thought was to stop and help. But immediately I found that I was in an out of control skid sliding wildly down the road at 60 miles an hour…crossing from one side of the road to the other….yet maintaining control of the car. There was no slowing down…it seemed that I was only going faster and faster…and there were trucks and cars heading toward me going very fast as well….also out of control. Somehow, my instincts kicked in and I managed to avoid hitting anyone and avoid having anyone else hit me as we just kept skidding.
You see, we had all hit a 3 inch deep stretch of hail and icy slush. Until I was in it and skidding, it was not even visible on this stretch of road. My instincts, however, prevailed and, after what seemed like a very long time, my car eventually came to a stop on the side of the road. I pulled forward a little further and into a drive way. Hail was still pounding down and I realized, that once stopped, there was more to be done. People were in danger here.
I dialed 911 and reported the accident and dangerous condition that had just occurred. At that time, I looked up and saw a truck coming around the corner who hit the hail covered section of the road and began skidding uncontrollably. He was headed right toward my car. I jumped out of my car and ran away from it, dropping my phone in an icy slushy puddle on the way. And I watched as that truck then overcorrected to avoid hitting my car and crossed the centerline again and rolled down into the 6 foot ditch on the other side of the road.
As I ran to get my phone out of the puddle, and call 911 again to report another roll over, trucks and cars continued to come around this very dangerous corner and start to skid. I found myself jumping up and down in the road to slow them, still talking to 911 operators, and also trying to get over to check on the young man who was now crawling out of the truck. Miraculously, he was unhurt other than being rather shaken up. The chaos continued. The 911 operator seemed confused about our location. Apparently, simultaneously to these two rolled vehicles, there were also multiple collisions and rolled cars on the highway only a short distance away. I looked across the field and watched as the ambulances, fire engines, and rescue helicopter came to render aid to all those who had been involved and hurt.
I then got into my car and drove about a 1/4 mile further away from the accident scene so as to position myself and flag down these vehicles who were about to hit the same very treacherous stretch of the road. I pulled over and got out of my car holding only a florescent pink umbrella to catch their attention and waved it as I saw approaching cars. Thankfully, people saw me and slowed.
To say that I am grateful is an understatement. I am thankful for first responders, fire fighters, EMT’s, ambulance drivers, and plain ordinary good people who chose to assist everyone who needed help. I am grateful that the young man who crawled out of the rolled truck nearest to me is OK. I am prayerful that others are not too seriously injured.
But most of all, I am thankful for a teacher who insisted that I practice and practice and practice until there was no fear, no hesitation and only a sense of calm in the midst of a dangerous out of control situation. I am grateful that he kept teaching these skills of defensive driving until he was certain that they had become my instincts. Because today, those instincts probably saved my life.
So this day, I encourage you to reflect on your instincts and remember that, at times, we need to turn off our thoughts and simply react instinctually. It could save your life.