Highway 93 in my rear-view mirror

My day started as most days. I headed down the canyon on my way to work, running a little late as always. About half way down, I came up to a line of cars behind a slow-moving truck. Several people passed us on the narrow winding road. I kept my patience and stayed behind, reminding myself occasionally not to tailgate, and reminding myself that passing on a winding mountain road is not safe and worth the extra few seconds it might get me ahead. Maybe the person was unfamiliar with the road, I'm sure I went slow up and down the canyon until I became familiar with it. Suddenly, two deer pop up next to the road and run in front of us. Everyone was going slow enough behind the truck to stop safely. I reminded myself it was likely a good thing that the we were all going slower than we normally would be behind the slow driver. We may have avoided a collision with the deer. Everyone was paying attention and we stopped as the deer crossed. As the line of cars continued on the road as the canyon highway straightens out, several more drivers zoom irritatedly by in the left lane. The driver of the truck was going at least the speed limit at all times now, even over at times. Even though I had the urge to pass, there really was no reason, so I kept calm and stayed behind.

Now at the stoplight at the intersection of highway 93, I stop at the red light, yes, a little relieved that the driver of the truck was heading the opposite direction of myself. Yes, I like to drive fast, and they wouldn't be in my way. I turned left onto the highway as the light changed to green. I noticed a car coming toward me in the distance, moving pretty quickly. I still had plenty of time to make my left turn. I went. I had a feeling I should check for the driver to make sure they were not merging on the highway. But I didn't. My mistake. With little space left on the merge lane, I finally looked over to see the car almost beside me. I didn't think slowing down would be the proper response, since the car was still slightly behind me. I sped up to make some room between us and get out of the way. As I look in my rear-view mirror, I notice the car still hasn't merged onto the highway. They are still driving on the side of the road, at about 60mph. "What the hell,"  I think to myself. I hope I haven't pissed this person off, thinking that I purposefully cut them off or didn't allow them on the highway in front of me. That really wasn't the case at all. I became anxious. Were they trying to catch up to me, to the side of the car?

Suddenly, the car starts swerving moderately behind me. There is snow and slush on the side of the road and it was obvious that the driver lost control of their car. I watched in horror as the car rocked from side to side, swerving erratically. The swerving became more intense and the car is literally fishtailing and swerving back and forth across the entire lane and finally into the other lane. It didn't appear that the person tried to slow down at all. They were coming forward still swerving out of control across the highway. I screamed and cringed thinking the car was going to roll or that someone on the highway would surely have a collision with the out-of-control car. Thoughts ran through my mind that this was all my fault. Even though I didn't intentionally speed up to block the car from merging onto the highway, I figured that is what the driver thought. I figured this was a classic case of road rage that went terribly wrong. As I watched the car, in what seemed like slow motion, careen across the highway, all I could think was "please don't let this person die, as I would blame myself." Now, I know that a person is responsible for their own actions, but the thoughts came anyway. What if I had not been there at that precise moment? Maybe none of this would have ever taken place. Why did I have such patience behind the other driver? For if I had passed him, I wouldn't be dealing with this situation, I would be farther ahead. "No, No, No," I cried. Finally the car stopped parallel in the middle of the two-lane highway, blocking both lanes of traffic. Somehow, all traffic stopped and avoided an accident. It was truly a miracle in my eyes, as I witnessed each move in my rear-view mirror.

Relieved, I continued on, but continuously looking back. The driver went in reverse, got the car back in the proper lane and went forward again as if nothing had happened. Now I'm assuming that the person is so pissed, they may just drive next to me and cap my ass. I watch as the driver gets closer and closer. I noticed that they didn't seem to be speeding in an attempt to catch up to me. I was dumbfounded by what I had witness and seriously telling myself, "if I die here, it's meant to be." I finally come up to an intersection with a stoplight on the highway. The light was green, so I continued through, probably much faster than I should have. There is a long turn lane to the right for those turning on the highway that heads east. The car finally catches up and gets in the turn lane.

I watch every move to see if they are turning, or coming up beside me to do who knows what, after all, they probably believed the whole near-death incident was all my fault and probably even more pissed than they were after the initial incident. I tried to keep my cool and see the driver, but the car was so covered in that winter time dirt and dust that I couldn't even see in the car at all. I just waited to see what they were going to do as I continued on. We went through the light and the driver did not turn, they stayed in the turn lane and kept forward, just slightly behind and to the right of me. What happened next blew my mind. They stayed driving in the shoulder again. Here comes the snow and slush and the exact thing happens again! The car slowly starts rocking back and forth a little and then gradually the swerves get longer and bigger and the driver is out of control again, never seeming to slow down at all. Now I'm not so sympathetic or feeling guilty anymore. Anyone who does this shit twice has some serious issues. This time, as I witness what seems completely unreal, time seemed to slow down. I hear myself scream as a huge concrete truck in the other lane heads straight toward the careening car. The car swerves in front of it and somehow, the truck stops, as do all the cars behind it and no one crashes. The car then swerves behind the concrete truck and comes to a stop, again facing east to west on a north to south highway. I watched another miracle. Now I have no idea what to think. Once again, the car backs up and gets back in the lane, just like before. I assume I'm still really in for it if this driver catches up to me again. Sure enough a few seconds later, I see the same dim, dingy headlights coming toward me as if nothing happened, driving normally. Now I'm not sure if this person is drunk, has a death wish, has road rage, is high on something, or what is going on. I cannot believe what I had witnessed, twice! Most notably, it was a complete miracle for someone to swerve back and forth on a two lane highway and not cause a single collision. I believe the other drivers could probably see the erratic vehicle and prepare to stop, because the car was literally swerving for several seconds each time before coming to a complete stop in the middle of the two lanes. I hope someone was able to get a license number or something. There was nothing I could do as I witnessed all of this in my rear-view mirror.

Finally, and once again, the car proceeds closer and closer to me, again as if nothing happened. They didn't appear to be chasing me, unless their car just wasn't fast enough. I continued to watch as more traffic separated us. Another stoplight, another right turn lane, and again, the driver drives right through the intersection in a lane that was meant for a right turn. Now I just assume this person is seriously ill or intoxicated, but it's very odd that they were able to drive normally and at high speeds until a damn right turn lane came up. Now we were in town and I eventually lost the person in the traffic. They could have easily caught up with me now, but didn't, so I am left dumbfounded at what happened and extremely happy that no one collided and no one was killed. I could seriously almost feel the angels watching over the scene as it all happened. It took several hours for me to calm down. I'll never know what was going through that person's mind or what caused the bizarre behavior. I guess I'm just thankful that every little thing happened as it did, since one minor change in where each car was placed on that highway this morning would have likely resulted in something horrendous. And even though it was not my fault, I would have likely always blamed a part of it on myself had someone have been injured or killed.

Driving is definitely a privilege that we all take for granted and we often don't think about how one minor move, can change our lives forever. So many people don't pay attention while driving or drive way too fast, including myself. We often fail to recognize the responsibility we have to ourselves and to others when we are behind the wheel. I was certainly reminded of that several times on my drive to work today. I hold a great gratitude that I witnessed a miracle in which no one was hurt in what should have twice been a complete disaster.