A few days ago my car was rear-ended as I was driving home from the happiest place on earth. No, not Disney World–Target. One second I was singing along with Chris Stapleton on the radio; the next second I had a Toyota Corolla lodged firmly onto my trailer hitch.
I was stopped at a red light behind a small truck and at least one other car. In my rear view mirror I saw the Toyota driver’s face as he realized that traffic in front of him was stopped, and that he could only slow down enough to lessen the impact, but not enough to avoid hitting my car. I firmly believe he’d been texting or looking at his phone, looked up to see a green light, but didn’t realize that traffic hadn’t moved yet. I’d been tapping on my brakes, so if he’d been paying attention, he’d have seen them.
The accident could’ve been much worse had I not been braced for impact and able to keep my own car from ramming into the truck ahead of me when the Toyota hit me. That’s why I NEVER text when I’m the driver, not even when I’m sitting at a stop light.
Since the accident I’ve been waking up in a cold sweat, reliving the moment that he hit me, only in my dreams I’m on my motorcycle instead of in my car. And I die. Smashed between the truck and the Toyota.
I told Studly Doright that I think my motorcycle riding days are over. Distracted drivers, obsessed with getting in one more text or looking at one more photo, are so common that I just don’t want to put myself in that position. Maybe that’s cowardly of me, but I don’t know how else to make those dreams stop.
Peace, and put down the phone, people.
Praying for Eyebrowz 
As a young 20-something I made a few ridiculous and truly questionable decisions in connection with motorcycles. I’ve looked back many times and thanked the universe that things didn’t turn out for the worse. I remember loving the freedom of riding, but not the fear of how easily death was sitting on my shoulder… Things are so much worse now so I can empathize entirely with you.
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I’ve ridden many miles, even took a major road trip from Champaign, IL, to Dallas, TX by myself. I’ve never been an aggressive rider, careful to stay out of situations that put me at great risk. But that fender bender in my car really shook me up. There’d have been no way I could’ve prevented that guy from killing, or at least severely injuring me, if I’d been on my bike.
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I see people texting on the freeway going 70 or more sometimes. It always blows my mind.
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Oh, I know! It’s nuts.
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However you manage it I hope the dreams do stop soon
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Thank you. So do I!
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Omg, what a horrible situation when you just have to helplessly sit and wait to be hit. My daughter was in a similar accident. She was waiting for a left turn, and that truck hit her car from behind. All the car was a wreck except the driver’s seat. Any passenger would be dead. She had panic attacks for a year or so. I remember she used some technique to confront the attacks. Abbreviation is AWARE, but I don’t remember what exactly each letter stands for. It helped a lot.
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Oh! That makes my heart hurt for her! I’ll look up the acronym and see what AWARE stands for. I’m still jumpy when driving. I feel as if I have a target painted on my rear bumper.
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Oh sure you do. Such a scare. These texting drivers make me so mad 😦 Everyone knows that it only takes a second to get killed, but still there are some … Hope you find help to kick the fear out of your head.
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Thank you!
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