Quote:
Originally Posted by 4X4
After thinking about it a bit, I do have some sympathy for the driver. It's easy for a guy like me to say that he should have known to slow down, but the reason I'm so cautious in certain situations like passing big, stopped vehicles is because I've had more than one heart attack while passing a stopped vehicle and then a person comes around from the front of the vehicle to get into the driver seat. That happens to everyone and it's part of gaining experience. Now my brain doesn't even think about it. I just automatically slow down and move as far left as is reasonable safe and possible.
The thing that really scared out of driving like a teenage idiot and into driving like a competent adult was the time I almost creamed someone in a crosswalk.
A 5 ton truck was signalling left and stopped on a two lane each direction road. There was a parking lot right there and I just assumed that he was stopped because there was some traffic flow oncoming. The truck was blocking my view of a pedestrian with a baby carriage crossing the street. Lucky for her (and me) she was super cautious and peeked her head around the front of the truck to see if any one was coming up in the right lane. I think I was about 20 when that happened. Tell you what, that scared me right out of driving like a maniac. I thanked my lucky stars every day for weeks. I couldn't stop thinking about how f'd up my life would be if I hit and killed a mother and baby.
Too bad for this kid. Learned the hard way.
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While what you did was wrong, a stopped school bus is a much more obvious warning sign telling you not to pass. I get your point, though, and if this 17 year old had just narrowly missed the child, he may have learned a big lesson like you did.