I have been driving this stretch of the 101 Freeway for the majority of my life. Sometimes when I look at this part of the road and contemplate the countless hours I have spent driving across this exact same piece of highway, it boggles my mind.
Skeptical of the term miracle, it actually is one that I have never had an accident on this freeway. I am a good driver now but that is definitely not how things started. I remember when I was 16/17 and driving from the suburb where we lived up the 57 Freeway to the 60, to the 5 and finally onto the 101 into L.A., I would look over my shoulder to change lanes and hold my breath and brace for impact as I actually did it, just incase….
I realize now I should not have been driving. Or maybe I was actually a very good driver then, just doubting myself.
It didn’t help that the DAY I turned 16 I had a huge car accident.
My parents let me have a car because I did all the things I was supposed to do in order to be a licensed driver and they were probably sick of driving me around so I got handed a pair of keys to a used pebble-brown VW that morning before school.
School was about 2 miles away from my front door but I could not wait to pick up my friend Melanie and drive us there.
I started the car, made it down the road, I remember the feeling of absolute elation as this happened. I made it to the corner where I had to turn left to get to Melanie’s house and that’s when I made a bad decision and turned left on a yellow light as a six-ton Arrowhead water truck sped up to make it through it and plowed right into my rear bumper, sending me spinning up the hill, over a curb, and into a tree.
Somehow, I was fine. The other driver was also fine. My airbag didn’t even go off (Fahrvergnügen!) The street did not fare so well, as 200 gallons of water dropped from its cargo and flooded the intersection.
My parents took the car away.
I had been a California state licensed driver for 12 hours. I had been an actual driver for 3 minutes.
annaxmalina
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izzy806
