Something exciting happened to me today – exciting, exhilarating, yet incredibly frightening. I survived from a near-death experience – from a double-sided collision that would have left my car in scraps and me in even smaller pieces. It was an error in judgment on my part, my overconfidence in my driving skills and my haughty disregard for Jeepneys. As I was driving along Del Monte at around 4AM, there were two jeeps (three if you count the extra one who almost had nothing to do with the event – although it was the reason why I chose to go to the left of the first jeep) on the road, one going the same direction as me, the other going opposite (toward us) I chose to go between these two jeeps, thinking that my speed would carry me safely in between them before the situation became too uncertain or dangerous (I was running at around 100+ km/h then). When I got closer to the jeep toward me, I realized that there was a GREAT (almost inevitable) possibility of me not having enough space to go in between them. Having nowhere else to go (turning right would have me hit the jeep going my way – or “Jeep 1” in the diagram below, and turning left would have me hit the jeep going towards me – Jeep 2, in a head-on collision), I opted to risk getting into a lower gear (for increased acceleration) and speeding my way in between. It would have been a disaster really if it weren’t for our combined presence of mind and reflexes (yes, I am giving credit to the Jeepney drivers whose driving I usually despise). Their fast breaking and my quick maneuvering got us all off without even a scratch. Anyway, here’s a rough diagram of the event:
As you can see, it was really a close thing. If the Jeeps hadn’t even bothered breaking, my maneuver would have helped me as much as an ice cube would have helped hell freeze over (okay that was a long idiom/analogy but whatever). When I say that I was able to maneuver well at such a critical moment, it is not based on only my judgment of my own driving abilities (as that would have been the height of arrogance) – it was actually commented by my passenger (yes, I had passengers when these events transpired – and I shudder to think what would have happened to them had the worst occurred that night/early morning). This passenger also drives so her judgment can be said to be reliable, even if not entirely so. Yet I confess, if only I had better judgment of road situations beforehand, the whole mind numbingly frightening and dangerous event could have been completely avoided. This event did not encourage me to drive on as I did that morning but instead has taught me an important lesson in caution and prudence on the road. Yes I will continue driving at insane speeds often but only when the situation on the road allows it to be completely safe to do so.
Sometimes, I think I have been trying too hard to be like my peers in DLSU, those who can be daredevils on the road – but I forget the fact that because of their dangerous driving habits, most of them have already had collisions and similar accidents (I heard one guy actually ended up with his car overturned). People always see caution as stupid and weak, until they end up getting seriously injured or killed by their foolish indulgence in dangerous activities (and even after that, they still persist with this kind of thinking). It is indeed a sign of immaturity to constantly engage in such activities. I realize this as I meet and ride with more people. Breakneck speeds and crazy maneuvers on public roads don’t really impress the older and more mature people. Of course, when a person truly loves speed, there are better outlets for it – such as professional racing or even arcade/computer racing games. To say that I am extremely blessed to have gone home without a scratch on my car and my person would be an understatement – let’s just say that I would not be doubting God anytime in the near future (and perhaps until the day I die). His providence is truly incredible – it almost makes me feel invincible. I once thought that my former close calls in driving could be attributed to my skills (and of course, my car), but surviving this near-impossible situation has proved to me that God is indeed keeping me safe, even through such situations that are a fruit of my own stupidity. Let this be a lesson to any who read this that drives – I may have survived that experience, and it may have been exciting indeed, but I never want that to happen to me again. Let us then practice caution on the road, as they say, prevention is worth a whole lot more than any cure.