Red Light Break

Driving home from work I found myself with a front row seat for popping tires, shattering glass and spinning cars. Oddly this is not the first car accident I’ve watched in real time here in Salt Lake, and it’s fun to watch the news knowing what will headline. In fact I was in one myself about 18 months ago.

And I wonder why I’m terrified to drive sometimes. It reminded me of Ireland where I drove quite a bit after my month probation. Yep, had to wait a month before I was given car keys—I wanted to give them back after that first outing.

If my body were the size of an average U.S. car then my pinky would be the Peugeot I drove abroad. I never decided whether I was glad to have the steering wheel on the left while I drove on the left. Awkward. Tiny cars: tiny roads. Tiny winding roads. Roads the size of a city sidewalk, meant for two lanes of traffic. Sometimes you had to pull off to the side and let the oncoming car squeeze by. Sometimes you had to back down the road to find the small shoulder you passed minutes before to avoid a stall with the oncoming car.

I think my shoulder pain originated in Dublin. My keen sense of direction allowed me many extra hours of driving in circles, specifically around St. Stephen’s Green. Looping the park in city centre I’d clench the steering wheel, press my back against the seat, bite my lip, hold my breath and will my foot to respond; gas, brake, gas, brake, brake, BRAKE.

Driving on other roads went similarly except I’d cringe a bit more and close my eyes often. It was surviving; I couldn’t face my certain death. Once I had the great privilege of riding shotgun on a winding road with blind turns and rock walls. Remember we’re driving on the wrong side of the road in a car with the right-side-of-the-road features. Out my window I’m staring at the passing cars, the words of my mother running through my head, “Don’t stick your hand out the window!” It would be chopped off.

I must have been zoning out a little too because I heard a loud thump and saw my own wide blue eyes staring back at me. The passing van, a service van slightly wider than most cars there, had hit our side mirror and knocked it closed. We left it for the remainder of our drive.

That was the only near accident I witnessed in Dublin. I guess it’s the wide streets that present the problem in Salt Lake.