The Idiot Lady and My Near Death Experience

Nearly died this morning, though that's not unusual in the age of idiot drivers. :-)

So, I commute to work via bus and train. The first leg of my trip is walking from my house to the bus stop across from King Soopers on Ken Caryl. I get to the corner of Ken Caryl and Simms and hit the button to cross. I cross the same way every morning, so I know that when the cars on Simms (going southbound) get the left turning signal, I can start across the street because the cars on Ken Caryl (going westbound) have a red light. You see, so they don't hot the cars turning left, right?

Not so much today.

So, I start walking and take my usual glance to make sure the cars stop. I tend to read while I walk and this morning I just started "Ender's Game," which is a really good book, by the way. :-) I see an SUV in the left lane coming, and go back to my book. A second later, I sense the SUV is not stopping and look up and, sure enough, the lady is going pretty darn fast and I *know* she has a red light even though I didn't stop to look.

So, what do you do in that situation? What does your instinct say?

My instinct said "Turn around and RUN!" And so I did! I turned and ran as fast as possible back to the corner and behind the telephone pole to avoid any debris from the accident which hadn't happened yet. I think the instinct came from my wife's accident years ago...she got hit by a car that had hit another car and pinballed into her while stopped at the corner. So, I know it can happen.

Just as I was getting back to the corner, I hear the screech (oh oh) and then WHAM!! Sure enough, she did hit somebody. It was another lady, and it looked like she knocked her head a bit, too, cause she was holding it when she got out of the car.

I tried to get tot he middle of the intersection to see if everone was OK, but cars were already driving around them and I couldn't get there. (The middle of an intersection was not made to walk to...who knew? Fortunately, a few people who were behind the woman had gotten out to help. Everyone was OK, but the lady who went through the red light is SCREWED.

So, for my wife who always tells me to stop reading while I walk, I say this: "SEE?? I DO PAY ATTENTION!!" ;-)

As for that idiot lady in the SUV...not so much.

Update: It should be pointed out I was ont he corner where the red light was, so I was between that SUV and the intersection where the woman got hit, so I wouldn't have been shielded by the accident, though perhaps that would have been more dangerous if the SUV careened.