I was running last week in West Philly and a lady almost hit me with her car.
It was one of those situations where she was stopping. She was almost or already at a complete stop at the white line on the street. So I started crossing.
I was literally right in front of her when she hit the accelerator. If she'd been trying to hit me, she couldn't have timed it better.
So, I screeched, "Jesus Christ!" and skittered out of the way barely fast enough.
Then I screamed some obscenities about her driving, and how she should pay better attention.
Then I ran away.
I was relaying this story to a friend of mine, and she said that when that sort of thing happened to her, her reaction was to run away in terror without saying anything. She said she WISHED she had the gumption to scream obscenities.
I pointed out that it was probably better not to be a screamer. That one day I'd probably get shot. On the other hand, at times like that I'm not sure I could do differently if I tried either.
9 Pearls of Wisdom:
from years-ago, riding a bicycle, I know that drivers look for other cars. When they are at an intersection, their eyes are scanning for car-sized things...that is IF they are not on a cell phone or GPS and are looking for anything. Ergo, humans, bicycles, squirrels, etc. do not register. In a city, they should also be looking for pedestrians, but it does not happen.
An attending I had (who we all thought had anger issues) told us that he was in a parking lot wheeling his daughter's stroller and a reckless driver nearly hit him. He not only yelled, but he kicked the car as hard as he could and dented it. Usually I thought that guy was a dick but that story made me happy.
OMG! OMDG-must watch who you run into. A few years back, a beautiful bright young lady 4th yr Med-student with residency wating for her at Highland Oakland Hospital got ran over by a car and guess what she never returned from her morning run.
I'm glad you're okay. Coincidentally, my last post contained a confession that I ran into a car as it was pulling out of a driveway the other day. Oops. I think I scared him more than he scared me. I was sure he was going to pull up beside me and scream obscenities!
Yikes! I'm glad you got out of the way in time!
My favorite thing that drivers do, beside pulling completely through an intersection at a red light so I have to walk (usually with a dog or two) IN the lane of traffic to cross with the light, is make left turns when I'm in the crosswalk. They usually cut me off so closely that I can reach out and touch the car . . . . . so I WHACK the rear quarter panel or trunk as hard as I can! Probably not the best (safest, most mature, least likely to get me shot, etc) reaction, but damn, it's satisfying!
They didn't stop or anything? I thought they were legally required to stop. If that ever happens to me, I'm memorizing their license plate as they drive off.
Umm...WHAT? A car almost hit you?! I don't know what I would have done, but I probably would have started pounding on their hood, screaming, "ARE YOU CRAZY?" I mean, that is a normal reaction to nearly getting hit by a car!
I would have gone ballistic. It's not just idiot drivers and non-car objects, I was driving back from Charleston to Central PA (14 hours, folks) and it was torrentially downpouring from NC to Richmond, so we were all driving at about 20 mph with flashers. Of course, there was a woman WITH 3 SMALL KIDS, weaving in and out of traffic at 60 mph with no lights on. In an SUV. Nearly hit my rented teeny tiny sedan and skidded back into her own lane, spooking about 12 drivers in the process. Too bad no one but my family was able to hear my screaming.
Glad you're OK! And for the record, I've been very well trained in looking out for pedestrians :)
That happened to me a few weeks ago. I tried to push the (giant) white pick up truck back, which didn't quite work, and I'm only here today because the passenger noticed that the truck had a new hood ornament, bigger and louder than the original one. Must have been a Ram truck. :)
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