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It was just another day: January 17th 2006. I left my boyfriend Matt's house in Satsuma Alabama at about 4:30pm. The drive on I-65 was about 20 miles to Mobile. I chose to drive on the left-hand lane headed south. I was in the process of calling Matt when it happened. The phone had just started to ring...and a car driving north-bound flew up about 15-20 feet in the air (or, so it seemed), started spinning as it came down--but it didn't come down on its side of the interstate. You know how people that that their lives flashes before their eyes in scary situations? I had one of those moments. Seeing a huge car spinning in the air, headed towards you is not something you ever want to experience. But, all of the sudden, the car stopped heading towards me. I do not know if it hit something, or if God’s hand pushed it out of the way, but the car landed on the wall separating the north-bound and south-bound lanes, then fell onto the other side of I-65. I cannot honestly say that I have ever been more scared in my entire life. I would have certainly died if that car had landed on top of me; it was headed straight for me, and would have landed on the drivers side of my car. But God protected me from potential death. About that time, I finally came out of shock and heard a “Hello?” from my phone. I cried as I told Matt what I had just seen.  In my mind, I heard no crashing, no shattering glass, no screaming, nothing…it all happened in slow motion and I was completely unconscious of what was going on around me.  

I learned something that day. While driving, your life does not lie only in your hands; it lies in the hands of every other driver on the road at that particular moment. That is something you will never learn in Drivers Ed. You can be taught how to drive like the safest driver in the world, but you can never be taught how to protect yourself in a moment like that. Those moments spring up on you unexpectedly and quickly. There is no avoiding them. It’s during those moments that people die--every day, everywhere. People don’t just die from their own reckless driving. They die from pure accidents, where another car rolls over an old tire on accident and goes flying into the air. My parents' main concern when I started driving was not me but everyone else. I never understood that until now.  

Awareness of what goes on around you is vitally important while driving. Other people driving under the influence (DUI) of drugs or alcohol do not only endanger their lives, but yours, as well. It is critically important to stay aware of oncoming circumstances like this. Your reflexes cannot always act in time, times where you are in a situation of life or death. So keep aware of your surroundings, stay safe, and may God’s hand protect you all.

 

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