Accident Enlightenment!
*Clear your mind and please read it for the facts only…
Man was never created to move faster than his legs can carry him,
Adam’s surname was not Andretti, and Eve’s surname was not Münter.
Man has evolved, in some areas not as great as in others.
At the age of 21, hardly 3 years after getting my licence and well within the period of still adjusting to the new skills of driving, I was involved in a serious close call that changed my life forever. I was at once enlightened and today, I pass on my experience.
This is what happened…
On the main road coming from Carltonville, going past the Dirkie Uys Army Shooting Range, I approached the intersection where turning left leads into Potchefstroom CBD.
I approached the intersection, roughly at 100km/h, I started slowing down, not only because a change in speed limit was indicated by a traffic sign, but also I knew there were regular speed trapping in the area. The last time I looked at my speedometer it read 80km/h and then I noted a car pulling up to the stop sign ahead on my left.
When within roughly 50m from the car it started to move off into my path of travel and I immediately realised that there was very little I could do in terms of avoiding an accident. I took a deep breath and assessed my environment to find an escape route as I slammed 100% brakes, locking all wheels that could on the red VW diesel bakkie I was driving.
With the first jerk of the steering wheel, I set a course in motion that was to be the ride of my life, literally.
The bakkie swerved sharp right, veering away from the imminent impact with the car on my left. The next obstacle was the traffic island on my right and I jerked the wheel left, narrowly missing the directional arrow board and veering sharply to the left. Then I was headed for the left pavement with a lamp pole squarely planted, now approaching me head-on. I jerked right again, narrowly steered clear and started veering sharp right towards the end of the island where the opposite traffic flow’s directional board was planted and after a jerk to the left, missed it. The pavement on the left was coming towards me once more, and again I jerked the wheel right, in an attempt to straighten the bakkie which was headed towards a row of pine trees straight ahead.
I managed to straighten the bakkie, gave aiming my best shot, breached a barbed wire fence and finally ended up stationery smack-bang centre between two huge pines.
As I took my foot of the clutch the diesel’s last torque jolted in 5th gear and cut out, I got out and started stomping toward the offending vehicle that had, in the interim, stopped on my side of the road, obviously driven there, expecting the worst.
Next thing I almost got winded as a guy smacked me on the back as he said: “JESUS, you can drive! And you’re a FEMALE!!!”. Paying this guy no attention I stomped off towards the other vehicle, them patently expecting a screaming match.
The lady driver of the vehicle carried one adult passenger and two children that I can remember, was in tears with shock and it seemed as if she expected me to assault her, begging my forgiveness and, in defence, pointed out the fact that she had children in the car. Surprisingly, with adrenalin on tap, I managed to contain myself and (not very politely) indicated that she should be extra aware, SPECIALLY since she had children in the car.
I made her follow me to where I was destined to pick up the bakkie’s owner so she could explain the bald patches on the tyres and the scratches on the bonnet.
Moral of the story:
1. Hone your hazard awareness to a fine skill.
2. Do not EVER lose concentration when you ride/drive!
3. In times of crisis it takes all the attention you have to cope and managing a life-threatening situation, exponentially more so.
4. Never allow yourself to get into the “I can do this with my eyes closed” mode.
5. Mid-way through your accident you’ll realise that you can pre-plan however much you want just to find scenario permutations can never be figured ahead of time.
6. Never, never, ever give up! Try to stay as calm as possible, try not to get overwhelmed by “the scene” forcing you into the mindset of “This is it…I can’t avoid this accident”. Always aim for a lesser impact, preferably none.
7. Try to process your accident one step at a time – this is how your survival-mind processes best in times of crisis. Keep the processing going, one mini-obstacle at a time, constantly shifting focus to the next, to the next, to the next. Blindly staring at what you’re going to hit will take you towards the impact but focussing on your mini escape routes wil take you there instead.
8. In driving and riding, space and time become critical very quickly – use it wisely.
9. Never, ever trust anyone but your own instinct! If you had close calls recently that initiated adrenalin flow, times the incidents by at least ten and that is a good indicator of how much more hazard awareness will benefit you in future, and remember, a trajectory is both friend and foe.
10. Not all accidents are avoidable – If you’re destined to survive, you will.
11. There are no coincidences in life – meeting by accident really means destiny, space and time put you in a specific place to learn from an experience and/or to teach others by virtue of being in your presence. I firmly believe that 6 people gained experience from my incident and those that learned from it added to their wisdom.
12. Spectators may think it’s cool to witness an accident and seriously cool when impact doesn’t happen. What they often miss is the lesson that they can learn and apply in their own lives and that a near-miss should always be more than awesome or gruesome pub-talk.
*None of the above makes me a chopper pilot with an ejector seat or a gunner in a tank with a superglue’ed turret – I’m merely a survivor sharing experience and some enlightenment knowing, as a biker, my experience was humbling and I was spared only by travelling on four wheels.
