Tag: Accidents

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Tales From the Road: Road Hazards

Carol and I enjoy traveling. We drive the speed limit, observe traffic rules and cautions, and watch out for hazards. Watching out for hazards is sometimes nerve-wracking because there are many kinds of them.

Potholes and broken sections of pavement which can destroy tires account for most of our hazards. I’ve seen one accident that was caused by a driver who swerved to miss a big hole but hit another car.

Another hazard that drivers sometimes face in the deserts of Southern California, Nevada, and Arizona, are sandstorms. We didn’t encounter those storms on this trip, but four years ago we got caught. The sand was blowing at 40 mph and was so thick that I couldn’t see more than 20 feet in front of me. When that storm was over, the windshield needed to be replaced.

Yet other hazards crop up: animals on the roadway. Rabbits, racoons, squirrels, and other small game just get squashed, and it’s over. Dogs, deer, coyotes, and the like can present more of a challenge, but elk, cattle, and horses can prove to be fatal – for man and beast.

Another hazard we’ve seen – but haven’t been affected by – are downed trees across the roads. Nature has been acting up lately and high winds have been howling through the forests. About a mile from where we are staying, a large tree fell across the road after midnight. It was still dark, and by the time a tired driver saw the tree, he didn’t have time to hit the brake. It took over two hours for the ambulance crew to remove the body, and the highway department to remove the wreck and the tree.

But of all the hazards we face on the highways, one stands out like a sore thumb. It is a high-speed hazard called a Motorcycle!

 All over the United States we see signs reminding us about them. “Be courteous: share the road.” “Watch out for motorcycles.” “Save a life.” “Start Seeing Motorcycles.” And others.

But the more ominous problem is that many of the motorcyclists are not watching out for themselves! I hear the complaints from many RVers across the country. At medium to high speeds, motorcyclists disobey traffic rules. At high speeds, they weave in-n-out of traffic and zip past us between the lanes. The interstate freeway speed limit may be 70mph, and we may be going 65mph while most cars buzz past us doing 70-80. But many cyclists shoot past us doing 80-90 or higher!

When I want to change lanes, I turn on my signal, check my side mirrors, rear-view mirror (if I’m not pulling a trailer), and ask Carol if the way is clear. When I hear and see that all is clear, I pull over. But several times as I was about to change lanes, a motorcycle zoomed out of the distance at over 100 mph ignoring my turn signal. I would’ve been hit if I completed the lane-change, and the cyclist probably would have been dead. Complicating the problem is: if we collided, the default verdict would normally be against the driver of the car.

On one of our trips, we were driving 45 mph east on I-8 up Mission Valley in San Diego. The traffic was heavy. A motorcycle passed me at high speed on the inside shoulder between the concrete highway dividers and my car. I told Carol, “I hope he doesn’t kill himself.”

This photo is that of a different fatality.

About ten minutes later, traffic came to a crawl as the two left lanes began merging into the two right lanes. We eventually passed a damaged car, the mangled bike, and the rider’s broken body. The ambulance had not yet arrived.

There are many hazards on the highways and byways that we watch out for. But we must make sure that we don’t become the hazard.

Do you know that living according to Biblical principles can make our life safer? In Romans 13:1-5, Paul teaches us about obeying those in authority over us. That would include obeying speed limits, wouldn’t it? It includes being courteous drivers and giving others room to enter our lane without crowding them. And according to the principle in Matthew 25:40, if we show kindness to other drivers, we are showing kindness to Jesus.

We also should pray before we get out on the road. God can warn us of danger, remind us to be safe, and can protect us from unsafe drivers.

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When Things Go Wrong

Today started out wonderfully. I woke up at the normal time, although my Precious was up two hours previously. Why she wakes up around five in the morning, I don’t know. But she had coffee ready, so her early schedule is fine with me.

We had eggs, sausage, orange juice, and toast—and Coffee with cream and sugar. Of Swedish descent, Carol is a great cook. She would probably be a world-class cook if I could eat pepper, spices, and all the other stuff that comes with being a world-class cook. But she’s fed me well for almost 56 years. I love her and I thank the Lord for her every day.

This morning as we were reading the Bible after breakfast, my ears were pierced by an alarm.

We have a propane stove in the trailer, and we always open a window and turn on the exhaust fan while cooking. That greatly reduces the potential for CO and CO2 in the air and prevents the shrill alarm from offending my ears.

But breakfast was over, what we thought was an emergency was taken care of, window was closed, and the fan was off. Why the alarm?

I jumped up to turn off the sonic ear-buster near the ceiling, but it wouldn’t turn off. That’s when I discovered the propane sniffer at the base of the wall. I forgot that we have two ear-busters in the trailer.

I quickly opened the door, and within five seconds the ear-piercing beeping stopped. What a relief! But now I needed to find the propane leak.

As I began checking all the connections, Carol said, “I found the problem.” and pointed to the stove. “I must have bumped the knob as I was cleaning and turned it on. I turned it off now. But we never tested that sniffer before, and now we know that it works.”

“Yay; it’s always good to know that our equipment works.” We didn’t blame anyone, we were alive, and we finished our Bible-reading.

That was the in the morning. With no internet at our son’s home up in the mountains, I went to the church building in town to do my work.

In the late afternoon as I was heading home, a pickup approached me on the dirt road, raising dust everywhere. “The road’s blocked by a downed pole and power lines. You can’t get home!” the woman hollered as she drove by. I pulled off the road.

Where is the road blocked? How far away? It’s over 45 miles if I try to go around the other way. But would that get me home?

The questions pummeled my mind. As I sat there, four other vehicles ignored the warning and continued on their way. Those same drivers looked aggravated as they came back five minutes later. My silent prayer was, Lord, what should I do?

Then I heard in my mind: Go ahead. It’s okay. So I started the engine and continued. As I reached the area where the car had plowed head-long into the telephone pole, I could see the splintered pole and power-lines strewn across the road.

“Sir, you can’t go any further on this street. The road’s closed until morning, most likely.” the state patrolman said plaintively.

“My friend, I only need to get to Swiss Ranch Road. Is that open?”

His face broke into a smile. “Well now, that’s the only road that’ll be open for a while. The accident happened just past that turn. Have a good evening.” And he waved me through the blockade.

There were no lights in any of the homes or ranches along that road—power was out. So when I reached the house, I prepared for another procedure: power the trailer with the car.

Power had been out for six hours, and the RV battery was nearing depletion, so I backed the car up to the trailer, connected the power cable, and charged the RV battery with my engine for twenty-minutes. I charged it again at 4:30 the next morning, and community power was back on at 5:35 am.

Afterwards, I remember thinking: When things go wrong, it’s good to know my equipment, and know the procedures to keep things running.

And that reminded me of something else: BEFORE things go wrong, we need to be familiar with Holy Scripture, and have an active relationship with the Lord Jesus. Scripture and the Lord give us knowledge and wisdom for life. It was the Lord Who prompted me with, “Go ahead. It’s okay.” Jesus is never wrong.

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Protected by a Spider

Okay, I know that title above sounds a little goofy, but I want you to think about something. What does it take to protect us?

Since there are thousands of dangers in the world, let’s get to the spider and branch out from there.

Now, to put it succinctly – or bluntly, if you prefer – a busy spider protected the future King David when he was hiding from the current King Saul. I read a story some time ago in Hebrew literature, and I’ll write it here to the best of my memory.

When King David was a boy, he enjoyed walking through the fields while taking care of his father’s sheep and enjoying nature. He was thrilled to see how each creature gave something to the world. Several examples are, hens lay eggs, bees make honey, goats produce milk, and sheep give us wool. But he couldn’t figure out a good purpose for the lowly spider.  

“What’s the purpose of the spider?” David wondered. He didn’t even find a good use for the web, although he must have forgotten about it catching bugs. As an answer to the question, God seemed to impress on him that everything in creation had its purpose, and that one day he would understand that the spider also had a purpose.

Years went by and David became a hero who saved his people from the enemy by killing giant Goliath. King Saul was envious of him, feared for his throne, and decided to kill David.

David ran for his life and hid in the hills but Saul, with a portion of his army, was hunting for him. One day hearing that Saul was closing in on him, David hid in a nearby cave. Saul’s spies told him that David was in this area and figured they would kill him within an hour or so.

David was now in mortal danger and cried out to God, “Who will help me?”

Unknown to David, as soon as he entered the cave, a spider quickly spun a beautiful, well-developed circular web across the cave’s entrance. Saul’s men reached the cave where they were sure David was hiding and were about to enter it. But when they saw the intricate web, they said, “If David were here, he’d have torn the web to pieces. He must be hiding somewhere else. Let’s go!”

That’s how David realized that the spider, like all other creatures, can be useful, and he immediately thanked God for creating spiders.

What did it take to save David’s life? A spider.

That makes me stop and wonder how many times diversions, incidents, delays, etc., have saved me from danger.

Returning home from Maryland last month, I made a wrong turn somewhere in Pennsylvania which delayed me for about thirty minutes. No big deal. We normally give ourselves extra time because we don’t enjoy being in a hurry. But when we got back to the right highway, there was quite a slow-down. We eventually saw the tow trucks hauling off two mangled cars.

Would we have been in that wreck if we hadn’t taken the wrong turn? I’ll never know, but checking the timing of my wrong turn, that error could have saved our lives.

A spider protected David. A wrong turn might have protected us. What else protects us?

Some years ago, we were attending a local church that we enjoyed. I was a deacon, Carol and I sang in the choir, a couple of our kids were in the orchestra. But one day the idea came to me that we were supposed to leave that church.

I prayed about it, and the Lord impressed me with, “It’s time to go.”

I didn’t understand why, but I had long-since stopped questioning God. So we talked with the pastor and developed a gentle way of stepping out without raising too many eyebrows.

Within a short time, a major problem broke out in the church and reputations were hurt. But because we had already stepped away, we were not affected in any negative way. We were protected by “the still, small voice” we read about in 1 Kings 19:11-13.

Spider. Wrong turn. Still small voice. God protects us in many ways. All that’s required of us is to obey the Lord. John 10:27 says, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.”

Don’t allow delays and problems to ruin your day. Those delays might prevent a bigger problems.

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