Perspective . . .

Tonight . . . my brother Jake and I . . . almost died! Yeah . . . Jake was with me in the pearl and we were going to pick up my motorcycle. We were making a left at the intersection on a green light. We were carrying on in good conversation. Enjoying the ride. Suddenly in my rearview mirror on the passenger side, I saw a minivan - Jake saw it too - come dangerously close to smashing me and then swerve recklessly to the side of the road, only to come to a complete stop. Both Jake and I looked at each other in amazement of what had just happened. Neither of us knew where this van came from at first, but quickly concluded that the driver of the van had just run a red light and only realized it just as he was about to hit my truck! Luckily for us his reaction time was better than his attention to minor details...specifically red lights! The incident instantly brought into perspective how quick a serious accident can occur. I guess I could bring up the old adage - in a blink of an eye! The crazy thing . . . not that this is anything new . . . but I had zero control over whether or not that accident occurred. It scares me. I have never been in any accidents to date. I have always felt that I was a good enough driver to avoid making any serious mistakes and good enough to compensate for the mistakes of other people. However, in this case, had this guy not been able to react to his own stupid mistake, the lights may have been out. And, neither myself or Jake would have even known it happened until we woke up in some hospital bed. Freaky! I know. I am wondering on the side of paranoia now. I just hope I never get so careless in my driving that such a mistake as running a red light on a busy interchange happens to me.