FUEL FOR THE MINDFUL DRIVER: So this is what happened to day — Traveling in the right hand lane on Bay Street towards the hospital, a black car is in the left-turn-only lane, just before Cook Street. He’s just a bit ahead of me, we are both traveling at 40 km/h and since I do not see his left signal on, I start to wonder if he just might want to come into my lane.
I had already made sure that even though he is a bit ahead of me, I am not in his blind spot (in case he does not shoulder check) , should he want to make a lane change. Thank goodness I had kept my eye on him, because just at that moment he started to move into my lane – with no signal and certainly no shoulder check.
- Being MINDFUL is to be aware of your surroundings, of possible changes in the surroundings and to have a plan in place.
My plan was to brake hard enough to create space for him in front of me, and honk. Since he did not see me, at least he would hear me. If all went well, he would move back into his lane, and if he didn’t, my braking would either avoid a crash or at least minimize it.
My plan worked – he moved back into his lane. This was a very close call – and actually I did not think braking could have completely avoided a crash this time, only limited the impact.
He drove in front of me all the way to Fort Street after that, and he was ever so good – no speeding, no blocking an intersection when traffic backed up at Richmond. I bet he had scared himself thoroughly! So I send him my best wishes. Being MINDFUL allowed me to make a potential accident into a teachable moment.
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