So today’s topic actually began to take shape 2 days ago – a typical rainy day and Monday. I was scheduled to drive up to our Pennington location so I found myself driving north on Route 130 instead of south… Either way, it would’ve been a crappy day because southbound 130 was flooded as was Route 73 and I would’ve used either of those routes to get to work in Swedesboro.
The point of this story is that it was raining and I was driving through Burlington on Route 130 – just before the Burlington Bristol Bridge. I looked up and noticed a the light had turned red and was slowing down when the three cars in front of me seemed to be braking suddenly. I think I was going about 20 mph but I slammed on my brakes and found myself gliding into the rear of a red Nissan Altima.
Well, there’s no need to go into the prayers followed by the string of obscenities issued from my mouth! Yah – I prayed. “Please don’t let me hit it. Please don’t let me hit it. Please don’t let me hit it.” (The three thing again!) Yah – I hit it.
I wasn’t going that fast so the airbag didn’t open. Apparently, the damage wasn’t so bad either. The worst thing was that the screws on my license plate holder left an imprint on her rear bumper. I was pretty shook up and upset at the stupidity of the situation, so much so that I neglected to check the obituaries when I got into work.
Also, I tried to call Shel and I had to leave a message because his cell didn’t pick up. When he finally called me, he started yelling because I didn’t call the cops… really the damage was so minor… I finally hung up on him because I had had enough crap all day! I even told Andy to take a walk out to Postal to check the time on their PCs.
SO… yesterday morning, I’m driving to work – the southern direction and I catch the light at Riverton Road. This woman using a walker is crossing Route 130 at the street, not using the famous overhead crosswalk that Erika used to love crossing to go to Clover to get her birthday present. No – this woman was crossing at road level and, while she was making good progress, it was unusual enough to make me giggle – especially when she motioned for oncoming traffic to inch up on her!
Then, a little farther down the road, still in Cinnaminson, this little blonde chick hopped the medial strip and got stuck there as she tried to cross Route 130 – not even at a light let alone over the cross walk! I wasn’t going fast, but someone with a little speed, could get her caught in their draft and fling her up like Dorothy’s house in the twister!
So now, I’m approaching Cinnaminson Ave and I noticed there was a car stopped at the light going northbound and an older guy was standing beside it pouring gas into the gas tank. The light changed and everyone begins to move and I noticed that a police cruiser is up ahead with its lights flashing. This cop has decided that he’s going to cut through the medial strip and go back north on 130 to the guy with the gasoline can.
I started braking (probably because I was still freaked from the fender bender the day before) and it was lucky that I did so! The guy in front of me slammed on his brakes but slid into the rear of an old taxi. The taxi then, pulled to the right to avoid hitting the SUV in front of him, but clipped it anyway, knocking the rear passenger lights off.
There was a younger guy driving the Mazda in front of me so I told him I’d be a witness if they needed me. He was a wreck. Then I called the cops because this was a much worse collision then I’d had the day before. A cop came, took my info and told me I could leave. Then he stopped traffic so the other cars could pull off to the side of the road. As I drove away, the guy in the Mazda waved a thank you.
This morning – it was quiet.
Just Plain Insane 