Are you really in full control?

Combat Edge, July, 2004 by Bob Carman

In 2002, pedestrian fatalities accounted for over 11 percent of all fatal motor vehicle crashes 1,394 of those fatalities occurred due to improper pedestrian crossings of roadways Roughly 3,200 of the pedestrian fatalities occurred when dark or during low lighting conditions

~ National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

It was a wet morning. The rain had stopped nearly an hour earlier, but a mist still hung in the air, and water splashing on my windshield forced me to use my wipers now and then. With only 6 or 7 miles to go before I arrived at work, I knew it still would be dark because sunrise wouldn't occur for another hour and a half.

At that point, I suddenly realized the past 15 miles had been a blur. I had been thinking so hard about the day ahead, the one behind, and a sports report on the radio, I couldn't remember anything else.

I had made this same drive the last 2 years without a single memorable event. This morning, however, things were about to change. It happened as I started merging onto 1-40 from south 1-235 in Oklahoma City. Almost 300 yards in front of me was a car. I didn't pay much attention to it until the brake lights came on, and I saw something fly over the front of the car.

I had slowed as I entered 1-40 because of the wet roads, but I didn't realize my reaction time had slowed also. I immediately found myself in a bad situation getting worse as I realized there was a body lying in the middle of the interstate. I couldn't turn left, as the car ahead of me had stopped there. I made a quick risk assessment of the situation, and turned to the right.

My slow reactions combined with a slower assessment forced me to jerk the steering wheel hard right, barely missing the body. I then had to jerk the wheel left to avoid hitting a retaining wall on the right side of the interstate. This maneuver, coupled with the wet roadway, caused my car to fishtail.

I turned into the slide but couldn't stop the momentum, and I slid sideways for what seemed like an eternity before coming to rest in the middle of the interstate. I quickly backed up to the left side of the freeway and stopped my car. I put my car's emergency flashers on, got out, and walked back toward the other car.

The right front, hood, windshield, and top of that car were heavily damaged. The driver, a young lady, was in the car trying to call the police, but she was having difficulty because of her terror. I asked if she was OK, and she told me she wasn't hurt, so I ran down the shoulder of the road to a spot close to where the person was lying. Because of the darkness, I couldn't tell if the person was dead or alive.

There were four lanes of traffic, with a 65 mph speed limit. I ventured into the road and started waving my hands to get people to stop. Despite my efforts, four or five cars passed by me, one striking the person again, before anyone slowed. I finally was able to stop traffic in the two left lanes, and cars in the other lanes slowed. A minute later, the police arrived and took charge of the situation. They put out flares, and diverted traffic around the accident scene.

The person the young lady had hit was a transient who had been walking across the entrance ramp. While she wasn't formally charged, she will have to live with the accident for the rest of her life.

The morning after this eye-opening experience, I tested myself as I drove to work and found I could barely see anything beyond the range of my headlights. Under low light situations, I realized I was relying on other sources of illumination to fill in the spots where my headlights didn't reach. Under the previous day's road conditions and speed, I doubt that my reflexes would have been fast enough to avoid hitting objects in the road just beyond my headlights. I thought I could stop or swerve in plenty of time to avoid any potential problem. Now I know better.

I urge you to join me in "slowing down," especially when hazardous driving conditions exist. I wouldn't want to live my life knowing I had killed or injured someone when all I needed to do was slow down and drive defensively. Do you?

Story by Lt Bob Carman,