Yesterday we were on our weekly jaunt to the Sunshine Coast.
The drive is a little over an hour.
We travel the Bruce Highway, the stretch that is deemed the most dangerous in the state.
We were not far out of town when we very fortunately escaped a near miss.
We were still on the single lane section when the car immediately in front of us began veering into a stream of oncoming traffic.
You've probably seen someone drifting out of their lane on the road before, usually they correct themselves in plenty of time.
This car didn't.
It just kept drifting, across lanes, right into the path of a 4-wheel drive and caravan. My hands flew to my chest, I called out "OMG", my husband started heading left although I'm sure we couldn't have avoided it, there was nowhere to go.
At the very last second the car righted it's path, the 4-wheel drive & van managed to swerve enough to miss it and a tragedy was avoided.
But I was stunned at how suddenly and without warning it all happened.
Who knows what the driver in front of us was doing, but a moment of inattention was all it took.
So we travelled on, hearts still pounding, when a mere 15 minutes later we came across a traffic accident, one that didn't miss.
We were on the dual carriage way by this time and in the ditch between the lanes was an overturned ute, a 4-wheel drive banged up at the front, and a completely smashed caravan. Emergency vehicles were everywhere, the mess was shocking, and now our hearts were in our mouths!
You know that old saying, about things coming in threes.
I was so worried and uneasy until we got off the road!
After getting safely to my husband's parents house, I was retelling the story to my mother-in-law and she said her neighbours had overturned their caravan just a few days ago. Was that the third thing? I hope so!
Just about every time I get behind the wheel I realise how close I get to my life being irrevocably changed. Driving is something so many of us take for granted and do almost without thinking. I work really hard to be present, even on short trips. After all it's a tonne of metal I'm in charge of.
ReplyDeleteOMG, my heart is pounding just reading about that, Thea. It's a nightmare on the roads. I try not to think about it too much.
ReplyDeleteBut the caravan was definitely the third thing so you can relax.
Take it easy! x
Glad you are safe and sound.
ReplyDeletescary!
ReplyDeleteYou've got me thinking now.. do we speak the third into being... what if we never said anything about 3s?? The power of words...
thank the relevant deities you are okay.
ReplyDeleteThat is terrifying.
The bad things come in threes thing is because luck is caused by three things - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luck
and in my experience they don't have to be of the same or worse nature - you had two road scares, so maybe a third scare,or maybe something of the same level but totally unrelated - either way - it won't be worse. It also relates to the "threefold law" with whatever you put out there - particularly bad - will return to you threefold...this is a part of karma and ancient religion -eg.if you wish ill on someone, it'll come back to you three times over,or three times as strong.
Can you tell i can be a touch superstitious?
plus, I think you'll be safe on the road - time has passed :)
Take care. driving terrifies me. I think more people should have a healthy respect for it and again so glad you are okay...*hug*
Oh my God! I am so glad to hear you are all safe and sound. That must have been terribly traumatic for you all. You are so right about travelling to the Sunshine Coast. It seems to get worse every day.
ReplyDeleteTake care and drive safely!
Best wishes,
Natasha.
Scary isn't it, how quickly these things can happen (accidents I mean). We travel twice a week up to three different spots on the Sunshine Coast to clean offices. I'm especially nervous when it's raining. We often come across accidents - cars overturned, roads blocked off. And then we see people weaving in and out of traffic at way more than the speed limit. Actually it's a wonder there aren't more fatalities.
ReplyDeleteCovered in goose bumps.......hate that road.... so glad you are all ok xox
ReplyDeleteThat is scary. And things like that happen in an instant, like you said, and you can't always avoid it. Glad you're all safe. x
ReplyDeletewow, so glad to hear that you weren't one of the 1/3 in the saying "things come in threes."
ReplyDeleteI think would be a lot to make me nervous for sure.
Oh Thea, I felt your fright reading this post. So many stupid things happen on our roads and isn't it awful that we have these 'notorious stretches' on some of our roads... almost willing bad things to happen.
ReplyDelete21 years ago, a panel van crossed the median strip from the other side of the road and veered into the car I was travelling in with my parents and one of my brothers. Thank goodness no one was killed, but the extent of our injuries were horrendous, my Mum's the worst of all of us. Through no fault of our own, our lives were turned upside down by someone else's impatience to overtake while speeding.
I was 11 at the time and vowed I would never drive, I was terrified of going in cars for years. Of course, I do drive and have done since I was 17.
I just wish people would learn to take more care.
Hope you're feeling better after your horrible scare.
Scary stuff, Thea. Glad you're ok!
ReplyDeleteI was traveling back to Perth from Margaret River with my then boyfriend and our two friends back in 1989-ish when a car heading towards us suddenly came across to our side of the road (there were no other cars around). My BF swerved to the right, and the car completely crossed our lane and landed in a ditch and crashed in to a tree. We ran out of our car to see if the driver was ok. He was. He had fallen asleep at the wheel. We were so lucky he fell asleep when he did, and not seconds later. Otherwise he'd have hit us. We were all pretty shaken up.
*crosses fingers*
Glad you made it safely to your destination.
ReplyDeleteWhile we are being superstitious, you were up to 13 comments so thought I had better make it 14!
ReplyDeleteWow. What a shock :( so glad you are all ok.
Oh, I'm so glad you're safe. That must have been terrifying!
ReplyDelete