Happy to be Alive

I had a little scare on my way to teach my final class last Tuesday. I was in the left lane going the speed limit. Two cars behind me whipped around me, not cutting me off, but squeezing in at high speed in the narrow space between me and the other cars in the other lane. No sooner did the second car scoot in front me, that the car in front of him veered off to the left, and the one of front of me veered off to the right, revealing a large trash bag blocking the middle of the lane. I hit the breaks and swerved around the bag, but overcorrected as I began skidding. I ended up flipping around in the opposite direction, facing head-on with a large pick up truck coming straight at me. I honestly thought that was it. Fortunately, the truck driver veered to my left and only ended up sideswiping me, putting in a small dent and tearing up my rear bumper. We both ended up on the side of the freeway, grateful to be alive. The damage to his truck was minimal. After exchanging information, he left. Unfortunately for me, it's really hard to make a U-turn on a freeway in the middle of rush hour. Finally, the traffic on the freeway backed up (first time I've been grateful for that), and some kind motorists allowed the idiot facing backwards on the shoulder to make his U-Turn.

I made it to my class, only five minutes late, and was really happy to be there and be alive. It could have been so much worse. I have no doubt the Lord preserved my life that day.

I found out the next day that the Texas Department of Transportation, fearing frozen road conditions, had applied a de-icing agent earlier Tuesday morning. No ice or rain ever came, and the de-icer is believed to have made the roads dangerously slick. Over 400 accidents had been reported by the afternoon (including 1 fatality)-- five times more than usual. My accident was around 4:30, but I'm suspicious that this contributed to the accident.