Tweet
Let Me Be Your Witness
This happened a couple of months ago, but I was still on hiatus, so wasn't here to post it.
The day was Thursday (I never could get the hang of Thursdays), and the time was 5:15, and I was heading home from work.
My workplace is in a light industrial area that has a lot of train tracks (between the port and the local switchyard), as well as two freeways that cross nearby, one of which is old and is bordered by a 'river' which makes local traffic rather interesting. (Oddly, they're putting in what looks like a real river to run next to the concrete drainage river. I have no idea how that's supposed to work)
I'm turning left onto a small side street that crosses over to a fairly busy main street that also has the on and off ramps for the more difficult freeway. There is a 25' rental van ahead of me going a bit slower than the limit, and pulled a bit more to the right than usual for that lane (the lane is double-wide for the entire length to allow for parked tractors with trailers), and between that and me is a woman in a white BMW who is driving like she's in a hurry. I don't know what about the driving style makes me know this, but there have to be clues that my subconscious picks up on. I, meanwhile, have no interest in playing a part in any drama, so am cruising back a good distance waiting for things to resolve.
The van pulls to the left, which due to the size of the lane doesn't actually take her into the next lane over, and then pulls a sharp turn to the right to get into what would normally be an exit driveway for the school building to the right (school was on summer break at the time). When the van pulled to the left, the impatient woman in the BMW thinks this is her chance and pulls to the right, near the curb, and guns it, planning to finally pass the van that is blocking her from speeding her way up to the signal ahead.
At this point, I pull over, having watched the entire drama unfold from start to finish, and wait to see what transpires next, now that the BMW has her hood partway under the side of the rental van. There is no way I'm letting this pass, as I was the only one other than the participants that knew what really happened, and the way the cars look, it makes it seem like the van driver was at fault.
Both women get out. The woman who was driving the van looks to be in her mid-20's and is obviously flustered and a bit shaken. I suspect much of this is due to the fact that she was in a rental. What a nightmare. She comes back to ask if I'll stay and be a witness for her, and I assure her that I have every intention of doing just that. The other woman was a bottle blond in her 30's or 40's, quite agitated and we could hear her yelling at the van driver from our position about a hundred feet back. She also shot me quite a few nasty looks because she knew that she was at fault, and there was no way for her to spin it in her favor with a witness.
I continue to wait, chatting with Nekojin (who didn't see the accident at all, having been playing the DS), and watching as both women call their insurance companies, and exchange information. Then the van driver comes over, thanks me quite profusely for stopping, and gets my info. The BMW driver only acknowledged my presence by continuing to stare daggers in my direction.
I got a call that night from a police officer following up on the accident and tell him the relevant details: The van driver never left the right lane, and the BMW driver was very impatient and tried to pass unsafely on the right.
And, just last week I got a request from the insurance company (dated a month earlier... I hope that things didn't go sour in the meantime) asking for what info I could give. So I filled it out, complete with little drawing of the accident, and sent it back.
It baffles me how many people pull such stupid maneuvers on that little stretch of road that connects the main industrial artery with the street that lets you on the freeway. The bit of road is only a 1/4 mile long, often has kids walking on the sidewalks, and the street it leads to is very heavily traveled, but not so much that it takes more than a couple of minutes for the right lane, which can back up the entire 1/4 mile, to completely clear out.
^-.-^
The day was Thursday (I never could get the hang of Thursdays), and the time was 5:15, and I was heading home from work.
My workplace is in a light industrial area that has a lot of train tracks (between the port and the local switchyard), as well as two freeways that cross nearby, one of which is old and is bordered by a 'river' which makes local traffic rather interesting. (Oddly, they're putting in what looks like a real river to run next to the concrete drainage river. I have no idea how that's supposed to work)
I'm turning left onto a small side street that crosses over to a fairly busy main street that also has the on and off ramps for the more difficult freeway. There is a 25' rental van ahead of me going a bit slower than the limit, and pulled a bit more to the right than usual for that lane (the lane is double-wide for the entire length to allow for parked tractors with trailers), and between that and me is a woman in a white BMW who is driving like she's in a hurry. I don't know what about the driving style makes me know this, but there have to be clues that my subconscious picks up on. I, meanwhile, have no interest in playing a part in any drama, so am cruising back a good distance waiting for things to resolve.
The van pulls to the left, which due to the size of the lane doesn't actually take her into the next lane over, and then pulls a sharp turn to the right to get into what would normally be an exit driveway for the school building to the right (school was on summer break at the time). When the van pulled to the left, the impatient woman in the BMW thinks this is her chance and pulls to the right, near the curb, and guns it, planning to finally pass the van that is blocking her from speeding her way up to the signal ahead.
At this point, I pull over, having watched the entire drama unfold from start to finish, and wait to see what transpires next, now that the BMW has her hood partway under the side of the rental van. There is no way I'm letting this pass, as I was the only one other than the participants that knew what really happened, and the way the cars look, it makes it seem like the van driver was at fault.
Both women get out. The woman who was driving the van looks to be in her mid-20's and is obviously flustered and a bit shaken. I suspect much of this is due to the fact that she was in a rental. What a nightmare. She comes back to ask if I'll stay and be a witness for her, and I assure her that I have every intention of doing just that. The other woman was a bottle blond in her 30's or 40's, quite agitated and we could hear her yelling at the van driver from our position about a hundred feet back. She also shot me quite a few nasty looks because she knew that she was at fault, and there was no way for her to spin it in her favor with a witness.
I continue to wait, chatting with Nekojin (who didn't see the accident at all, having been playing the DS), and watching as both women call their insurance companies, and exchange information. Then the van driver comes over, thanks me quite profusely for stopping, and gets my info. The BMW driver only acknowledged my presence by continuing to stare daggers in my direction.
I got a call that night from a police officer following up on the accident and tell him the relevant details: The van driver never left the right lane, and the BMW driver was very impatient and tried to pass unsafely on the right.
And, just last week I got a request from the insurance company (dated a month earlier... I hope that things didn't go sour in the meantime) asking for what info I could give. So I filled it out, complete with little drawing of the accident, and sent it back.
It baffles me how many people pull such stupid maneuvers on that little stretch of road that connects the main industrial artery with the street that lets you on the freeway. The bit of road is only a 1/4 mile long, often has kids walking on the sidewalks, and the street it leads to is very heavily traveled, but not so much that it takes more than a couple of minutes for the right lane, which can back up the entire 1/4 mile, to completely clear out.
^-.-^
Comment