Falling Asleep at the Wheel

I left Miami at 8 p.m. last night for the long journey home by myself.  I have driven this route at night many times before but usually with Glani.  Once, in a daze, I was driving around 1 a.m. in the middle lane on I-75 North as Glani slept.  Suddenly, headlights appeared from around the corner and before I could say "What the hell is that?" a wrong-way car going at least 100 miles an hour narrowly missed me.  How's that for a wake-up call from my zombie-like stupor?

Another time, when on our way back from Atlanta, I was driving in the passing lane on I-75 South just before the I-475 connection.  Up ahead, I noticed a bunch of people standing around a stopped-car in my lane.  I swerved at the last second and continued on.  As soon as I looked in my rearview mirror, I saw a van behind me that didn't swerve.  Next, there were flames shooting into the sky and a host of fast moving cars careening off the freeway into the woods.

Once, while crossing Alligator Alley, I saw an SUV just two cars ahead of me start going off the road onto the grassy curb.  The lady driving jerked the wheel and got her vehicle back onto the highway. Heading then to the other side, she jerked the wheel again in an effort to compensate.  In a flash, the SUV was airborne and flipped over landing on its roof.  I pulled to the side with some other cars to see what the fate of the occupants were.  I feared the worse as I saw kid's sneakers and clothes strewn out on the highway.  Fortunately, only the driver occupied the vehicle and she sustained at worse a broken collarbone.  

In 1999, Glani and I were stuck in a very annoying traffic jam on I-85 just south of Commerce, Georgia.  When I saw an RV rolling backwards toward me, I wasn't worried.  Glani was, though, and started freaking.  As it got closer, I became concerned too and started beeping my horn. The RV kept on rolling and ended up hitting us and settling on our trunk.  At that point, the RV moved forward.  I thought it was going to pull over but it didn't.  Next time the jam stopped, I got out of my car and knocked on the man's window, convincing him after some struggle to get off the highway so we could call the police.  When we got to a gas station he looked at me and said, "No need to call the police.  Here's my card.  My wife and I are going to a flower show.  When I get home I'll take care of the damages.  You can trust me, I'm a strong Christian."

I smiled and said "praise Jesus" but called the police anyway.  Later, the man tried to claim it never happened and refused to pay.  My insurance company didn't believe me but when I contacted his, they went out and took pictures of both the back of his RV and the front of my vehicle.  My damage and his protruding metal matched.  I was awarded a check and the strong Christian's insurance went up.

In 1992, I was driving off an exit on a newly snow-covered road in Connecticut.  By the time I saw the 18-Wheeler in front of me, it was too late to stop without sliding out of control.  So, slide I did, luckily coming to a stop just before the Jan and Dean-style impact.

In 1982, I was in the back seat of my friend Phil's car after losing shotgun in a fight with my brother.  We were driving on an old windy road called Jared Sparks in the winter with snow banks plowed up to each side of us in Willington, Connecticut.  When a car pulled out in front of us, Phil had to swerve to avoid it.  I was chanting Hare Krishna on my beads intently but as soon as I saw we were going to hit the tree, I dropped by beads and screamed "AAAAHHHGGGG!!!"  After the impact, I was okay but my brother and Phil both hit their heads pretty hard.  I picked up my beads and went back to my "sincere" chanting.

One last anecdote: Another time in Willington, around 1992 I think, I was stopped at a light when a young UConn student smashed into me from behind with his porsche.  It was at that same light around 11 years earlier that someone else had hit me from behind.  This time, I got out of the car and said I was all right to the paramedics when some strange liquid started oozing out of my nose.  They strapped me down in a gurney and transported me to the hospital.  Later, I was awarded $15,000 for my inconvenience.  

All of these thoughts and more crossed my mind around midnight after I dozed off and started crossing lanes only to be awakened by the fact that I had fortuitously leaned forward into the horn.  I felt perfectly awake and suddenly I was out like a light.  I had risen at six a.m. and by the time midnight rolled around I had driven almost nine hours and worked at least six.  I was Garg-xhausted and reminded that there is indeed danger at every step.