Monday, July 28, 2003

***Be aware that this post is a traffic complaint. Move on if you don’t want to read the following rant.***

I was on time this morning and very pleased about it. Then I heard the traffic report on the radio at 8:00 - there was an accident on the Outer Loop of the Beltway on the Wilson bridge. My exit to the courthouse is about 2 miles from the bridge on the Outer Loop. Shoot! There go my hopes of being on time to work.

About 20 minutes later I was on the Beltway, behind a car that was poking along a tad too slowly in the far right lane. So I put on my left turn signal, checked my mirrors - making note of the red pickup with the cab on the back that was coming up fast (he had to be going 80mph), and seeing that the middle left lane was clear I started to move over. I was almost fully in the lane when the red truck started to move into my lane. Shoot! I was almost up level with the rear bumper of the car I was passing on the right, so I tapped the brakes and swerved in behind him.

It was a little terrifying because there are jersy barriers along the right shoulder (there is no shoulder). If he had hit me, I would have been pancaked between him and the other car and the jersey barrier, and the car immediately behind me would have hit us too - a minimum 4 car accident narrowly avoided.

So my adrenaline was pumping, but I had the delays ahead of me to give me time to calm back down, which I did. So I was able to walk into the office, whole and relatively calm, despite the stressful morning.

My boss agreed that I have a lot of drama in my life. At least today.

UPDATE: Oh, yeah, I forgot a couple things. I had a cup of coffee in my right hand, so I managed to avoid an early death with one hand. And I realized later that I would have used that right hand to lay on the horn if it had been free. So the guy got away without even realizing what he had done.

And I watched him zoom ahead - weaving across all four lanes - until from the far left lane (which is an exit to I-395 that heads to Washington) all the way to the far right lane (which is an exit to I-95 South to Richmond). He’s destined to die in a fiery auto wreck - or to kill someone in a fiery auto wreck.