Slow Down

Last Thursday, I met with the Safety Committee leaders. One of our main topics discussed was vehicle safety. On that very same day, the day I was discussing car accidents, and the big rate increase of our vehicle insurance, I was in an accident.
First the good news, no one was injured. Now on to the rest of the event.

I was completely stopped in traffic when a truck behind me, surely driving too fast, hit the back of my car. I won’t print what I said out loud in the moment, but I was stunned. I saw him slowing down and thought it would be fine. I had left enough room in front of my car that I did not hit the car stopped in front of me.

It took a few minutes for me to navigate to the shoulder and the truck driver followed. He got out of his truck and asked me if I was OK. He said he would get his insurance paperwork. Then he went back into the truck and drove off.
Now I am feeling stunned again. I tried to get a picture of his license plate as he drove off. I wanted someone to have a chat with him about his behavior. But heh, there was no license plate.
I guess I should be happy that he asked if I was ok. But now I want to know what he was thinking.

Every day, each of us gets in a vehicle responsible for our own safety and the safety of other occupants or vehicles around us. There is a community out there depending on us to be aware of our surroundings, to be safe and cautious drivers. It is not about us as individuals. It is not about where we need to go, what we need to do next when we get there. It is all about getting there safely.

This accident reminded me that in life we need to slow down. Whether it’s on the road or in life, how can we help each other slow down? What habits do we need to form? What cues or reminders do we need to make sure when we get in the driver seat, we are committed to keeping ourselves and our neighbors safe and their cars out of the body shop!

Think about the different ways that you can slow down in your life?