Ninja like reflexes
 

Almost got broadsided yesterday by someone who probably was texting or something.

I saw them in a driveway moving toward the road. There was a car parked which must have blocked the view some but I was very visible and assumed they would stop. As I got closer it was clear the car was not stopping so I did a rapid lane change past a parked car into the parking lane on the right. Finally the car stopped short of hitting me.

This was in my Montero which is a very tall vehicle. I could understand them missing me if I had been in a sports car down low and such.

In such a maneuver the Montero leans a lot!

Ninja reflexes honed in autocross competition save my sorry azz again!

I hate it when that happens.

I find myself frequently crossing the path of vehicles who appear to be going faster than I, yet they are supposed to be stopping for me.

It is for reasons like this that I really want to stop driving to work.

Before texting existed and before cell phones were common, my dad taught me to drive in such a way as to not require anyone else on the road to alter their control inputs in order to avoid a collision. This isn't always possible, but I do it as much as I can. I read the abstract from a British study on road accidents that listed "failure to look properly" as the most common cause of collisions. I certainly believe this. It's even worse if you're on a bike. Also, never trust a turn signal, but you probably knew that already.