In the Blink of an Eye
May 22, 2011 | 12 CommentsThings can sometimes be measured in milliseconds. Nanoseconds. The blink of an eye.
There are these moments in life when time seems to slow and the rest of your life depends on what happens in that breath of time.
Better Safe Than Sorry
I see myself as a responsible, young driver. And I have only been in two auto accidents, but in my defense, neither of them were my fault, and to prove it, my insurance rate didn’t even flinch. The people who hit me paid for all the damages in full, which was great (my poor car!)
Anyway, last week, I was on my way to my violin lesson, so I was speeding down my street (my teacher is all about punctuality). At the end of my street is an elementary school. I made a mental note that the time was 3:30 and the school had just finished and gotten out. There would be lots of little kids running around so I should slow down and be more cautious. That I would rather be late, then to hit someone.
All this passed through my mind in a split second.
Probably two seconds after I thought this and eased on the break to slow down, two little kids, brother and sister, dart out in front of my car. I saw the scene unfolding, as if things were moving so slowly, as adrenaline was dumped into my veins. The brother wanted to cross the street to their mother’s car parked on the other side. He took his sister’s hand and pulled her after him, laughing.
The mother was standing right besides them, talking to another mother. She turned and screamed. The two kids turned and saw my car for the first time, heading right towards them.
It is amazing how fast the human brain works and that you can react with only a second to spare (literally).
In that tiny expanse of time after I told myself to slow down, all that happened, and I took it all in. I slammed on the breaks as soon as I saw them step into the street, just as the mother screamed. My car stopped probably only five feet away from those children.
The mother ran out into the street and hugged both of them, practically in tears, scolding them at the same time. She nodded thanks to me, and I knew that she meant it with all her heart.
My heart was racing, and it didn’t slow until I stepped out of the car with my violin. Even then, my hands shook. What if I had been a moment too late? My life, that mother’s life, those children’s lives would have been changed forever. What if I hadn’t stopped in time? What if I hadn’t the thought to slow down and not speed? I wouldn’t have stopped in time. I would be devastated if I had hit, let alone, killed two little children. (At the speed I had been originally going, about 35 mph, I probably would have killed them had I not slowed and had I hit them full on). These thoughts raced through my head, and even now I am scared by the idea of what could have happened.
I have a cousin, Kevin, who was hit when he was three, by an 18 year old driver, racing down the street. I know personally how it can change that family’s life forever. My cousin ran into the street after the ball he was playing with rolled down the driveway. My uncle, weeding the garden couldn’t react in time. It all happened in a second.
To this day, he remains severely retarded, although a he is a wonderful person and is loved by everyone. He has a great personality and a fun sense of humor in how own way, but he will never be normal. At 26 now, he will never get a real girlfriend, never get married, never have kids, never be independent. Never have what any normal person has. Just because of what happened in a blink of an eye.
Tags: General, Life, Local, People | 12 Comments
That’s so crazy, so scary. Those are the reasons that I’m scared to get a driver’s license. In teens, car crashes are the leading cause for death. Frightening- right?
PS: Sorry I’ve been gone for so long! I’ve been grounded! Ahh!
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Such a terrifying experience! It’s a good thing you reacted quick enough to save those kids.
I’m worried, if I was ever in that situation, that I would just panic and accidentally accelerate instead of hitting the breaks or something tragic like that.
Such a terrible thing to happen to your cousin – and he was so young!
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Picoseconds. Femtoseconds. (Literally the first thing that popped into my mind when you started writing smaller and smaller time intervals was, well, even smaller time intervals. Therefore I had to include them in my comment. Anyway…)
What a frightening experience! I can’t even imagine how scary it must be to be in that situation–a matter of life and death, really. I’m terribly absentminded, and I feel like the story wouldn’t have ended so well if I were the one driving. Thankfully you were able to stop in time! So lucky that you realized that school was letting out and adjusted your speed accordingly… oh wow. I’m glad everyone is all right!
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Wow, that must have been very frightening for you! It’s amazing how you were able to stop just on time. I think all in all, it means you’re a safe and responsible driver.
And you’re right–these things happen in the blink of an eye. If you were one second–not even–too late to stop, those kids would probably be really hurt or not even alive. The mother, seeing her kids still alive and alright, is probably so thankful that you have stopped because it wasn’t your fault, the kids shouldn’t have been running across the middle of the street, but they’re kids.
I’m so sorry about what happened to your cousin, Kevin! If only the driver behind the wheel were as cautious as you were when you were driving. I’m sure he is very loved, but it’s saddening how he’ll never be able to carry a normal life. Some things, we just don’t deserve. It wasn’t Kevin’s fault–he was just three.
I’m so glad you’re alright too because even if you did accidentally run over those two kids, it wouldn’t make you feel any better either. I hope that your violin lessons in the end eventually calmed you down!
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omg luckily you braked in time! That is very lucky! I just started driving myself, and I haven’t had this experience with people yet, but there were times when I didn’t see a car suddenly coming, and had to brake immediately to avoid crashing into the other car. It was very frightening.
I’m very sorry for what happened to your cousin. That is really sad
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I’m so sorry about what happened to your cousin, that’s so sad.
I’m glad you didn’t crash but your post is so true – things really do happen so much. On Sunday, on the way home from my brother’s graduation, we were on freeway when suddenly some crazy driver from two empty lanes away swerved past our lane into the next one; probably 4 feet away from our windshield. It was so crazy. 
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Good thing you slowed down, I can’t imagine how scary that must have been for all of you involved
Love your layout at the top btw, it’s super cute >:) as are all the little emoticons, I want to use all of them!!
couldn’t resist that one ;)
Anyway, lovely site, visit mine sometime maybe?
Ceri | http://www.xfalse-hope.piczo.com xoxo
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Signals that are processed by the brain basically travel pretty darn close to the speed of light when compared to most things. Definitely faster than sound can move through your body I believe. So yes, you will probably brake on time. And I’m sure that you’re a good driver. You be a good driver so that you won’t hit anything and ruin anyone else’s life.
Your first sentence actually reminded me a lot of my own work. In my work (robotics), often times 1 second is just not accurate enough. If we want to be accurate, we have things measured up to precisions of up to microseconds. It’s amazing what little electrons can do in such a short amount of time!
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Wow, that’s scary. Hope you’re okay after that, I know I’d be a bit freaked out if that happened to me. I’ve never been in a full on car crash before, but I came incredibly close when my Dad’s indicator didn’t turn off and this truck tried to turn into the road, thinking that my Dad was going round the corner and came very close to hitting us. I can’t imagine what it’s like for anyone who has been involved in a car crash. Scary…
It’s a good job reaction times are quick enough to stop things most of the time. Sorry about your cousin, it’s sad to hear that.
xx
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It’s amazing how fast our reaction times can be. I’m glad that you braked on time. I would never be able to live with myself if I ever hit or even kill those little kids. Life can be so fragile. You thought about slowing down and immediately stopped the car in fear of hurting those kids instead of getting arrested or sued. You’re a good driver.
I’m really sorry about your cousin, but at least he is surrounded by those who love him.
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at least you’d slowed down. you’ve probably changed their lives. about your cousin, is he happy? if he is, that’s all that matters.
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That was a close call! Reminds me of an incident when my sister and I nearly got mowed down by a speeding bus.
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