First of all, it is not possible to "avoid an accident." An accident by nature cannot be avoided. If it could be avoided, then it wouldn't be an accident. Accidents can be minimized, but if you keep driving, keep riding, and keep walking, eventually an accident will happen. And when it happens there is no way that it could have been avoided. It will be an accident.
Although I am a careful driver, I have been involved in quite a few car accidents. A few of them were my fault. Most of them were not. Thankfully, there has been much more damage to vehicles than to human beings, but they are very personally invasive and time-consuming. They involve tow trucks, policemen, insurance companies and body shops, In some cases the wreck involved buying another car. In one case the mishap involved a hospital. In at least two of them I could have been killed. In one of those two wrecks no one was hurt. In the other collision I was the only one injured. In that last one I was traveling on an interstate on a clear morning. I was driving in the right lane on a straight highway at the speed limit. No one was in front of me or beside me when the accident occurred. I was suddenly struck from the rear by a car going fast enough to total my car. From my standpoint, it couldn't have been avoided. Once I was hit by a car as a pedestrian. If anything had been totaled in that accident, it would have been me. I have learned from all of the accidents and I feel that I minimize automobile accidents with hard earned defensive driving skills.
But of all the accidents that actually happened, it's one of them that didn't happen that I remember the most vividly. About four years ago my wife and I were traveling on I-75 north to Indiana. It was around 10pm and we were about thirty miles south of Cincinnati, Ohio. We were in the left lane passing an 18-wheeler. The truck was to our right and there was a concrete barrier to our left. As we were nearly even with the cab of the truck, the truck started changing lanes on to us. I started braking and laid on the horn. Since the truck was moving ahead and we were gradually slowing, the illusion was that we were going backwards in slow-motion. The inverted V of that space continued to close as we continued to slide backwards in that space. There could not have been more than a foot of clearance on either side. Each micro second I kept expecting to hear the scraping of our car against the concrete on one side and feeling the crush of the truck on the other. But neither ever happened. In what seemed like an eternity, but was only a matter of seconds, the truck was completely in the left lane and we were behind it--in one piece. It was over. He never knew what didn't hit him. Heart pumping. Adrenaline surging. Hands shaking. But we were safe. So did we avoid an accident? No, we didn't have an accident. If we had had an accident, it couldn't have been avoided.
Accidents can't be avoided, but they can be minimized. You can never drink and drive. You can never text and drive. You can never read a text and drive. You can never check Facebook or email and drive. You can use a hands-free telephone. Dialing and driving is texting and driving. You can drive the speed limit. You can keep a reasonable distance between yourself and the car ahead of you. If the car ahead of you slams on brakes, you brake too, but pay attention to the car behind you (now that space you left in front of you matters a great deal). You can always use your turn signal and check your blind spots. When you're changing lanes on a multi-lane interstate, make sure another car isn't claiming the same lane from the other direction. Don't text while you walk. Look both ways before you cross the street and then glance back at that first way. If you're riding your bicycle in traffic, expect lane changes and doors opening. Most accidents happen in your home, which makes sense because you spend the most time there--Don't go up and down wooden steps in your socks. If you do, watch every step (the voice of experience). Don't use a chair for a ladder. Don't get on your roof without restraint. Don't mess with electrical outlets if you don't know what you're doing. Generally, pay attention to what you're doing. Think about the amount of time it takes to be careful versus the amount of time it takes to recover. Or the amount of time it takes your survivors to recover.
Today is the first Sunday of Lent. This season beginning with Ash Wednesday through Easter Sunday traditionally is a time of penance and self-denial. Many Christians choose to give up something significant during this six week period. There are a myriad of ways people choose to observe this time of preparation. However, Lent is not only a time of preparation, but is also a time of celebration.
Thinking about the incident that night on I-75 I am so very thankful that it didn't involve tow trucks and policemen and insurance companies and ambulances and hospitals. Or body shops (think about that). So for Lent, I'm not giving up dark chocolate or mixed nuts. I'm not giving up Netflix or my Bose headphones. For Lent 2016 I'm giving up carelessness. I'm celebrating mindfulness. I will live the next six weeks deliberately. I will pay attention. I will live to the fullest. But whatever happens I won't be able to avoid accidents. Accidents can never be avoided. That's why they call them accidents.
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