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Health & Fitness

A Tragedy Averted

I'm just back from a month in China - jet-lagged, with time all flipped around. But in trying to get back to normal, I went out today to do some errands at Cortlandt Town Center.

On the way back, coming west on Route 6, right by the Beach Shopping Center, a man jumped out right in front of my car. Simultaneous with my expletive ("Oh Sh--!!!") I STOMPED on the brake and screeched to a stop, no more than six inches from him. The man then scampered off the road, almost getting hit by a van. (There was something not normal about him; he was either mentally disabled or somehow impaired.)

Afterwards, I was shaking. I was in disbelief and I was incredibly relieved that I hadn't hit him. I was also proud of my reflexes and of my car's brakes, which I'd never tested like that before.

There are also a number of things I wasn't.

I wasn't:
- Speeding
- Eating
- Talking on a cell phone
- Impaired by alcohol or drugs

Any one of those factors would most certainly have erased those six magic inches of space between car and pedestrian, and instead of my simple blog post, tonight our area would have a grieving family.

I see so much inattentive driving. It's especially easy, when driving on local roads we know so well, to forget that anything can happen at any second. So please let my experience be a reminder to all of us sharing the road. Let's focus folks!


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