Have you ever had a close call?

[luvwinnie]

I get very upset just THINKING about this... my youngest niece drove with a friend to another friend's house and parked in the street right outside. They went into the friend's house. As they were walking down the steps to go back to the car a drunk teen smashed into her car so hard that her car dented the ROOF of his car...her car was totaled...Thank God they didn't leave 30 seconds earlier.

 

[PhotobearSam]

A missed a guy about 2 inches when he went through the red light in Orlando just where we were coming out of a Sonic (there are no Sonics here) and I was trembling for the next 20 minutes and my legs were numb. but I still like Sonic...

A few trips before, I was run off the road at a Disney on ramp when the guy next to me looked left but turned right. I think he way have been from England because that is all we heard all week in the parks. I kept control and DH was very proud of me. I shoke for about 20 minutes and my legs were numb.

I was the passenger in car with friends and we almost hit a deer on the HWY. We missed him by maybe a few inches. I shoke for about 20 minutes and my legs were numb. (Can you see a pattern here)

DH and I were driving through Quebec and there was a bit of snow. Well there was an accident and when we got near it on the highway, everyone was breaking but could not stop. The 2 cars in the front of us, went into the ditch on each side, we zigged through a few cars and made it through thanks to DH but all we could see when this happened was the jack-kniffed flat bed coming for us. DH is a really great driver and I beleive he saved our lives. Someone was killed in that accident. Now we don't drive if there is snow. After that I shoke for about 20 minutes and my legs were numb.

Last but not least, when I was 11 yrs old, my parents and I were taken hostage by a man with a gun and a knife. Cop chases, car crahed into a ditch, robbery of our store, being tied up and having a gun put to the back of your head, being told not to cry or you would be killed, and a police shoot out that left the man in a wheelchair and all that happened in one night. I am sure if things would have gone smoothly for the guy we would be dead, but I guess God had different plans for me and my parents. We are here now...

 

[jbmom]

When I was in college my boyfriend was sick and asked if I could go get him some medicine. It was about 11:30pm and I went to an all night grocery store. I was coming out when 4 men came up to me and asked me to go to a party with them. I said no then they started circling me, I was so scared and there was no one else around. I tried to walk back toward the store but they had me circled in tight, just then a bag boy came out of the store and I yelled help and the guys kind of scattered. The bag boy then walked me to my car. I never go to the store alone late at night anymore.

 

[Shugardrawers]

I used to live in WA state where there is a lot of logging. One afternoon I was driving down the road in the right lane and a logging truck was next to me in the left. I could see the lady behind the logging truck needed over in my lane and I slowed down to let her in. We all came to a stop at a stop light. There were now 3 cars ahead of me and I'm directly behind and to the right of the logging truck. The light turned green and as we all start to move again something holding the logs on the truck broke and they all rolled off to the right crushing all 3 cars next to it. Because of the physics of the impact none of the drivers survived and only 1 passenger did. I'm only here today because I was nice enough to let someone in ahead of me.

 

[DMickey28]

I used to live in WA state where there is a lot of logging. One afternoon I was driving down the road in the right lane and a logging truck was next to me in the left. I could see the lady behind the logging truck needed over in my lane and I slowed down to let her in. We all came to a stop at a stop light. There were now 3 cars ahead of me and I'm directly behind and to the right of the logging truck. The light turned green and as we all start to move again something holding the logs on the truck broke and they all rolled off to the right crushing all 3 cars next to it. Because of the physics of the impact none of the drivers survived and only 1 passenger did. I'm only here today because I was nice enough to let someone in ahead of me.

What about the woman in the car you let go ahead? Was she in one of the cars?

 

[ZPT1022]

What about the woman in the car you let go ahead? Was she in one of the cars?

I was wondering the same thing

 

[Shugardrawers]

What about the woman in the car you let go ahead? Was she in one of the cars?

Yes she was, she was in the place I would have been had I not let her in ahead of me. She died that day. I got my hood dented up some but that's it.

 

[ElleBelle]

Last but not least, when I was 11 yrs old, my parents and I were taken hostage by a man with a gun and a knife. Cop chases, car crahed into a ditch, robbery of our store, being tied up and having a gun put to the back of your head, being told not to cry or you would be killed, and a police shoot out that left the man in a wheelchair and all that happened in one night. I am sure if things would have gone smoothly for the guy we would be dead, but I guess God had different plans for me and my parents. We are here now...

Oh my god! How traumatic that must have been for you and your family!

 

[PhotobearSam]

Worst part is after the whole thing we found out he was on Parole for Manslaughter. He was not the mastermind but the hired help. The cops knew who had planned it but could not prove it. My Dad and some of his friends ran the others out of town.

This was back in the day you could do things like that.

It was very traumatic. It has changed me but I have lived with it so long, I guess it's just normal for me now.

 

[Philagoofy]

So many harrowing experiences, especially involving vehicles. Here's mine.

Christmas eve several years ago, we were heading to a relative's house on a major road. I was driving through the green light when a woman coming in the opposite direction must have thought she had a green turning light & smashed into our car. No one was seriously injured but if it had been 1/4 second later, she would have hit the driver's door rather than the few inches forward where she did hit. Figured I'd probably be dead now.

Another time on a Disney vacation, I was turning up a ramp. It was evening & I guess I didn't see the signs too well but luckily I quickly realized it was an exit ramp. I back out & as soon as I was down, a semi came lumbering down. Probably would have been smithereens.

Couple of weird experiences in the park (local not Disney) involving a perv. Think it was the same guy both times. One involved little kids by themselves there who wanted me to walk them out cause some guy was following them.

 

[Aurora63]

I had a close call once, and I owe it all to my own stupidity. Thank God there was an angel with me that day.

I was 20, a college student. I did not have a car. I had had a job interview at Radio Shack that morning, and after the interview, I was walking to my current job, which was at Subway. It was freezing, and rainy.

Anyway, after a few minutes this old man in a pick up truck pulls up along side and asks me if I'd like a ride. Now, I 'knew' I shouldn't take rides from people I didn't know, but I decided it was probably okay this time, because he was an oldish man (somewhere in his 60's, I'd estimate). Plus the weather was bad. Looking back I just think to myself "Stupid, stupid, stupid!!"

He asked where I was going, and I tell him, and he starts off in that general direction. As I'm sitting there, I just know something is wrong, since he isn't speaking, but I don't say anything. Finally he turns down a side street and I know I need to get out of there now! After going a little ways down this side street, he pulls over and stops the truck. Then he turns to me and says, "Let's get familiar."

Anyway, I said no as I am opening the truck door and running as fast as I can across campus, staying away from any street. I don't think I stopped running until I got to work, which was about a mile away.

I just think sometimes, what if he had rigged that door so it couldn't open from the inside?? What if? I could have been dead, at the very least he intended to rape me...I just thank God I was able to get away from him.

Don't ever be stupid like I was that day!! Stay out of strange cars!! I can't say it enough...it seems so simple, but I'm sure there are others like me who have done this or who will. I hope my story will make an impression on some of them, never put yourself in a position where you are in another persons control.

 

[TDC Nala]

I flew out of Heathrow Airport on December 21, 1988. Pan Am 103 took off an hour later. Found out upon landing what had happened.

Probably not a close call but it seemed like one. I had a friend who was actually on a Pan Am flight that day, but the DC flight, not the NY one.

 

[Pig Pen]

When I was in middle-school there was a serial pervert in our area. I hung out with a group of about 6 girls in the neighborhood and separately we were approached by him several times - once he tried to get me to get in the car with him to show him where the school was, the second time he stopped me right in front of my house! Luckily my dad was in the garage and got a good look at him and called the police. I don't know if they ever caught him but it was the last time I saw him.

Another close call was narrowly missing being broadsided at an intersection. I was slowing down for a red light and then it turned green. I noticed a car coming very fast from the right... I actually said "I don't think that car is going to stop." In the meantime the car next to me had already proceeded thru the intersection and the speeding car broadsided it. We would have been the middle of an oreo sandwich if I hadn't stopped when I did.

DH and I had to testify as the offending driver denied the light had turned red!

Finally, DH and I were driving down the highway one day and saw a hitchhiker. For some reason DH thought we should give him a ride and started to pull over. I threw a fit so he pulled back onto the highway and we left the guy. That night the news reported that a hitchhiker had killed someone who had stopped to give him a ride and stole the car. We always wondered if it was the same guy!

 

[PrincessMom2002]

Some of these are so creepy.......

DS (a baby at the time) and I were heading home after a visit back in my hometown. The traffic was pretty light at the time. Some moron was getting on the road via an on-ramp and driving quite fast. I was in the far left lane along-side a concrete wall, and this idiot proceeds to swerve all the way from the far right side of the road to where I was. Fortunately I had a feeling he didn't see my car and was about to do something stupid, so I slammed on my brakes. My instinct was right because my car would have been pushed into the concrete wall.

Last year DH, DS, DD and I were on I-70 going to a neighboring town. DH was driving in the right lane along-side a semi in the left lane(which is stupid to do in the first place). The semi never saw us (of course because we were in a blind spot!) and he merged over, forcing us off the highway. This was a high construction area but we were lucky because the area we ended up in had no construction equipment and there were no broken down cars in that spot (usually there are because it is one of few places cars can park in case of emergency).

There are other not-so-traumatic near misses but these two definately made me think that somebody was watching over us.

 

[mking624]

Back in 2003 we did a road trip from Chicago to Orlando. In Tennesee we were going down a pretty steep decline when this semi came barreling down on us...honking at us the entire time. So we switched lanes to get into the right lane, he followed, again honking. We switched back to the left lane, he again followed...honking. We get back into the right lane and he finally stays in the left lane, but only for a few seconds. As soon as the front part of the truck had passed us, he immediately started getting into the right lane...a very clear indication that he was going to push us off the side of the road since there was no shoulder save maybe a foot or two. I started freaking out, and fortunately DH is a quick thinker and slammed on his breaks (it was night so no one else was around). That was a steep drop off and we would have been killed. I was shaking so bad and crying...not understanding why this truck driver was determined to bring harm to us.

The other close calls actually happened to my DH...
When he was about 6 years old, his parents were in the middle of converting their basement into liveable area. DH tied a rope to something hanging off the ceiling and would tie his action figures' necks to it so he could swing them around and pretend they were flying. Then he got it in him to tie the rope around his own neck...he jumped off a table and tried to fly. Fortunately whatever he tied the rope wasn't strong enough to hold him, and it broke off and he landed on the floor. If it had been strong enough, he would have died since it was too high for him to be able to touch his feet to the floor.

Another close call for him was when he was at Six Flags Great America when DH was a young teen...he went on the American Eagle rollercoaster. While he was plenty tall enough to get on the ride, apparently he was not "heavy" enough. During the ride's incredibly steep decline, he started coming out of his seat. Fortunately the person he was with who sat next to him noticed what was happening, grabbed him and pulled him back down. If he hadn't noticed, DH would have flown out of his seat and most definitely killed. Scary thing is that a small theme park about an hour or so away from us had that happen with a little girl a few years ago...and she did wind up flying out of her seat and dying during the rollercoaster's decline.

 

[Alyssa88]

When I was younger I was almopst kidnapped.

My mom has always had a fear that I would be kidnapped, so she and I had a code word. The plan was that if anyone ever had to pick me up she would give them the code wordand I would know it was saf, but if they didnt know the code word it was not. When I was in middle school I was walking home with a gorup of friends. A man pulled over and said that he knew my mom (said her name) and worked with her (said her job) and something happened and she was in the hospital. He told me she wanted him to take me to the hospital. I asked for the code word and he had no idea what I was talking about. I didn't get in, and my friends and I rushed home. My mom was at home sitting at the table when I returned. Thank God for that code word, I still remember it. We never were able to get that man, I didn't pay attention to how he looked.

I also had a little stalker last semester. He is gone now.