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What Would You Do?
A freeway experience - June 7,
2002
My husband, Jon, and
I had a very sobering experience today and I feel the urge to
share it.
 We were driving on the 5 south from Oceanside and Jon said to
me, "Oh my God, that guy is asleep!" I looked over and
sure enough, the man (about 30-40 yrs old) driving the pickup
truck next to us had his hands on the wheel, his head back
against the headrest, and his eyes completely closed. He was
tooling along at about 75mph on a straight stretch of freeway,
probably with his car in cruise control. Nothing about his
driving would have alerted us, but the freeway was completely
straight at this point.
My first reaction (I was driving) was to think that I'd better
change lanes and get away as fast as possible. It seemed
inevitable that he was going to have a terrible accident. (I'm
not proud that this was my first reaction, but it was instinct
and I can't be too hard on myself for that.) That feeling was
quickly replaced by the question of whether we should try to
wake him up. We agreed that we should, and pulled up next to him
again, still going about 75. His eyes were still closed, and if
there had been any doubt before as to what we'd seen, we were
certain by this point that he was, indeed, fast asleep. I
started honking the horn and Jon leaned out the window yelling,
"Wake up! Wake up! Wake up!" Fortunately his window
was half way open. Still, it must have taken at least 15-20
seconds (which is an ETERNITY under these circumstances) before
he startled awake, looked around, realized where he was, and
slowed down. I kept an eye on him in my rear view mirror, and
soon he pulled up next to us again, nodded, and waved to us in
what felt like a thank you. I followed behind him all the way to
our exit, where he too got off.
I keep thinking about this now that it's over. Many questions
come to mind. For instance, how many people drove past him
without noticing his condition? How many people noticed it and
followed that first instinct to just get away? What would have
happened if Jon hadn't chosen to accompany me on my errand to
Oceanside today? It was a last minute decision on his part. If
he hadn't been there I wouldn't have been in the right place at
the right time, because we decided to stop for lunch. (Even if I
had been in the right place, I probably wouldn't have noticed
the guy.) What if we'd chosen a different restaurant, as we'd
originally thought of doing? Would we instead have been caught
in the traffic jam caused by his fatal crash?
And also, what if when he awakened, the guy had jerked his
steering wheel to the left and crashed into US?
When an accident happens, all of those "what ifs" come
out in bargaining for a different outcome to a terrible
situation. What about when an accident DOESN'T happen? So many
things had to come together in perfect synchronicity for this to
have the outcome that it did.
We probably saved at least one life today. The traffic slowed up
ahead, so even if he hadn't gone off the road before that, this
guy would have plowed into the car in front of him a few minutes
down the road.
I feel awed and humbled by this experience. Today we had an
opportunity to make a difference, and we did. What a blessing
that is! I wonder what this man took home to his family. I hope
he realized that we cared enough about him to take on some
personal risk in helping him to stay alive. I guess this is one
of those random acts of kindness, and this time it was our turn
to be the delivery system. Perhaps he will pay this one forward
some day?
I've learned something. When I drive, I'm going to try and pay
more attention to the drivers on either side of me. Think of how
many accidents could be averted if we all did this.
Please drive carefully - and pull over if you feel sleepy.
Judy Rudin
http://www.yesicanselfdefense.com
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