by Chris Folsum

Created on: December 12, 2009

Slow down and take time to pay attention to other drivers, pedestrians, and bicyclists.  During the holidays not only are more people out and about but they are also in a rush.  Their minds are often not on their driving or the road.  If you are a smart driver and holiday traveler you will not be like me, and end up hitting an 83 year old pedestrian while leaving a bank parking lot a week before Christmas.  Thank goodness she wasn't seriously injured. This happened to me almost a year ago to the day.

Most of are so busy looking for other vehicles when we make a turn out of a driveway that we fail to remember the people who might be on foot.  I was attempting to make a right turn out of traffic so had no reason to pay attention to traffic coming from my right hand side.  I was planning to turn out of the bank with traffic, not against it.  Making a right turn out of a business driveway on this particular street is normally not too difficult but being that it was Christmas time, rush hour and it was wet weather the cards were stacked against me.  My bank is located a little too close to the major intersection where there are freeway  exits,  three other high traffic driveways just too the left of the one I was exiting, an intersection with another major cross street in our town.   Everyone of these factors offered an exceptional challenge that afternoon.  I waited for what seemed a long time, glanced in my rearview mirror and noticed a line forming behind me.  Feeling pressured I saw an opening and let up on the brake, suddenly I heard a BOOM on the front of my truck and the first thing I saw was an old woman walking from in front of the driver side she had been crossing from my left side, which I never took the time to check because I was so busy waiting for the right side (on coming traffic to clear up).  She was holding her arm and shoulder and was obviously very mad at me.  The whole thing was unnerving, embarrassing and it didn't have to happen.  Had  I just taken that last step and checked to my left the whole thing could have been avoided.  I let the pressure of impatient motorists behind me my own rush to get home cause me to make a stupid mistake that could have been tragic had I accelerated instead of just taken my foot off the brake.  I try now to always look both directions even if traffic is not a factor in making a turn. 

Tip #1  Look for

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