That Split Second...

I was in my comfort zone. No tension, no SZR, no high speed traffic…this was the community area, and you could just roll down your windows and drive at 60-80 km per hour, enjoy the weather as you drive and finish your errands along the way. I turned towards the Town Centre, my indicator clearly showing my intentions. I saw that delivery van waiting to come out from the same point where I was supposed to go  in.  I was right in front of his vehicle. And we both stalled for a few moments considering the narrow entrance and exit respectively in front of us. I saw the three men including the driver sitting on the front side of the vehicle. It was an X position. I had to make an inverted forward slash to go in and he had to make the backward one. Since he could not have come out unless I would have gone in, I almost took that gentle curve to go in, when I saw that delivery van moving forward…there were just a few inches between my car and his van on that narrow community road- just one lane to go in and another to come out. I raised both my hands while looking at him in a gesture of shock “What are you doing? Can’t you see… I am right in front of you and you can’t go flying over me?” and went in, and he moved out. I wanted to stop my car on the road, just where I had made that hand gesture, get out of the car, and confront him for what could have costed me my life, and my kids their mom…but I thought the better of it. I did not even bother to see which company’s delivery vehicle it was, or the plate no. or anything.

I was not unnerved, in fact, I did not think about it at all until later that evening. It was that fraction of a moment. It would have been a terrible collision. He would have hit me straight. Who would have called the police? Would anyone have called the police soon enough? Would I have survived? If I did, would I have suffered any major injuries that would have crippled me for life…and I would have missed rolling down those windows and feeling the cool winter air on my face for rest of my life? Who would have picked the kids at home time that day? What if my husband was travelling at that very moment? Who else would the police have contacted? Who could I have trusted my kids with in that emergency? Who would have taken the trouble to coordinate everything in absence of my husband? Would I have cursed that moment when I decided to go to Spinneys for that bottle of milk? Without realising, I knew, I was thinking about the worst-case scenario in the UAE. With no real family around, we do not know who to turn to in times like these…and in death.

I realised how God had saved me that day, by a split second; and I realised how I cannot thank Him enough for saving not only my life but also of the people I love, my family. It was a miracle...really!

Every accident, on the road or otherwise, causes damage, usually irreparable. But I had always assumed that accidents occurred on highways, or roads where there was a reason for people to ignore the traffic rules (no cameras, for instance; or just an empty stretch- a tantalising, tempting stretch of road beckoning them to test their F1 skills!) or are caused by RTA taxi drivers (who stop anywhere on any road to pick or drop a customer!). But I now know - accidents can occur anywhere. There is no need to panic but there is a need to be ever vigilant when on the road, even if it is the road in front of your house! Idiotic, selfish, mean, dumb drivers are not yet extinct, you see!