Monday, May 14, 2012

Distracted drivers suck

My mother's day rocked! But, it got off to a really fucked up start. I had been getting bored with taking my son out to run loops around the park. So for the last two months I have been taking him out for a four mile loop around my neighborhood. On Sunday morning I headed to the park to do a loop around the track. Then I crossed the street to exit the park.I was then walking  on the sidewalk with my stroller. As I was crossing another street, I was running  with my son in the stroller and a Ford pick up truck comes flying around the corner. It almost seemed as if he was speeding up towards me. I know he didn't see either myself or my son. I was able to push my son out of the way and I  narrowly missed being hit by a truck. I screamed out at the top of my lungs. I was terrified of what almost happened. The driver of the truck then hopped out of his vehicle. He was a big burly man and he  started to approach me.  I was so shaken up that I didn't even want to talk to the man. Several people at the park saw what happened and came over to diffuse the situation. I ended up walking back towards home with my son and I walked two miles with him to calm myself down. I didn't want to be a hysterical mess when I came home to my husband.  I dropped my son off and I ran 5 more miles solo.

I have always been a fearless runner when I am out running. But, I am also really careful to face traffic head on, I never cross in front of a car if I know they do not see me and I'm always scanning the road for what's coming up ahead.

I don't want to be afraid to take my son out running. I know he enjoys going out to see the neighborhood. I'm just going to have to take even more precautions when I am out running with him. I am so grateful that we are both safe and sound.

2 comments:

  1. I'm so sorry. I'm glad neither you nor your son were harmed. I've had a couple of close calls and they leave me super shaken up not just after almost being hit, but for the next few runs. (Sorta how I feel after a car accident. Unfortunately, I've had that feeling more than once.)

    Being a runner has made me a much more careful driver.

    Stay safe out there!

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  2. I am so glad to hear both of you are okay. Like cindylu said, being a runner and/or cyclist makes us more careful drivers because we've been on both sides. I still have close calls in and out of the car.

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