This morning I arrived at a four-way stop with a van at the stop to my left.
Although I was clearly slowing down and intending to stop, the van made no move. Its owner sat there, inert, clearly involved with a technological gizmo. It was his right of way, no question. Just as I said silently to myself, OK buddy, if you’re not going, I am, the van began to slowly edge away from its corner.
I looked up just in time to see another van barrel directly toward me, ignoring its stop sign and moving at well over the posted speed limit. The van to my left and I slammed on our brakes and I blared my horn. The errant driver was oblivious.
Had that first van pulled out a little sooner, I’m certain he would have been T-boned and it’s likely both vehicles would have ended up plowing into me. We all missed disaster by just seconds. This may be one of the few times that fiddling with a cell phone while driving has actually saved a life or two.