Pay Attention

I consider myself to be an alert driver with good defensive driving skills.  Last night, on my way to choir practice, being alert paid off.  I was in the right hand lane on 3rd Ave by the Civic Center, and passing a slower car that was in the left lane.  The speed limit is 30 mph on this road.  He was driving normally, but as I came up to him, something told me that I should pay attention to this car.  Sure enough, when my front seat was about even with his back seat, he started making a lane change into me.  Somehow, I was expecting this, and immediately hit the brakes and laid on the horn.  My tires squealed, and he quickly moved back to his lane, visibly shaken because he had no clue I was there.  My heart was racing from the close call, but I also found it amazing that right before this happened a little alarm went off in my head that told me to watch this guy closely, because he might not know I was there.

This was actually the second time in the past month that a person almost hit me because they didn’t check their blind spot before switching lanes.  The first incident had the potential to be much worse.  It was on Highway 52, in the rain, at 55 mph or so.  There is construction on that road through Rochester and the left lane has less than a foot of shoulder room and then concrete dividers, so I had nowhere to go.  I make a point not to hang around in a person’s blind spot, and to pass as quickly as I can.    I also try to always keep an eye on the traffic around me because I know there are a lot of bad drivers on the road.  Help me out though and make sure you check your blind spot before changing lanes.