I've been lucky

People will often look back at an unfortunate incident, an accident, or a tragedy and say "if only this hadn't happened", or "if only this or that".
The fact of the matter is that people only focus on accidents that did happen, seldom the ones that were somehow avoided, or the ones that never happened and that they were never aware of (like the guy walking 5 meters behind you being drawn into a dark alley, mugged and shot, or the drunk guy that was supposed to run you over but didn't leave the bar because his friend took his car keys)
People tend to forget fairly quickly the few times people they say "Pfew, I was lucky on that one"

This is why I've decided to keep track the times where I was lucky for one reason or another, whether it was plain dumb luck, or whether I controlled the end result but was helped with a little luck.
The idea is should I ever die or get injured because of something out of my control, I don't want to be looked at as a very unlucky man. I had my share of luck, but you don't win every time.

1997/06: I fell asleep while driving

I'm not the kind of guy to do that kind of thing, but here's what happened:
After living 1 year in LA, I had a plane for a 3 month student exchange trip to Japan, but at the same time, I was moving out as at my return from Japan I was due to move from LA to the San Francisco Bay Area.
So, I had to pack both for my trip and the rest of my stuff. All my possessions had to be boxed up for storage. To make things even simpler, I had just gotten my first laptop the previous day (long story) and I had to load it up with linux and all my stuff before getting on the plane.

I ended up packing all night while working on my laptop and barely got everything boxed up in time to move the boxes to a friend's place and go to the airport.
The catch is that I had to store the car somewhere near the airport, and my friend offered to store it at his Mom's so I followed him with my car while he was leading the way.
It's only when we had done 2/3rd of the way that I started feeling sleepy (not having slept all night and all). Back then, I decided that I could make it, after all I didn't have much of a choice because my friend would probably not have seen me stop on the side of the road, and I'd have been lost somewhere, and would have missed my plane and ruined my trip to Japan (I was to tired to realize that I could have passed my friend and made signs that I was going to stop), so I opened the window to let fresh air in, and decided that I was going to make it.
But those eyelids where getting really heavy, and I just didn't pick up the clue that it was horribly wrong for me to close my eyes even for a second.

I don't remember in details, but I probably closed my eyes 4 to 6 times for a few seconds before I realized that I was going to crash into someone if I continued, and that somehow woke me up long enough to get there.

When I think back about this, it was truly scary, I tell you. People die in cars just like this every year.
I'll probably never be in a situation like this anymore (having such pressure to continue or get lost and miss a 3 month trip), but I sure know that I'd stop if this happens again.

1999: "Reckless driving" on the freeway

I was once driving back from San Francisco with a friend of mine, and his girlfriend was driving his somewhat sportsy car. I was showing them the way back to the 101 freeway and at the last traffic light before the on ramp, I roll my window down, and say, as a joke "Race Ya".
She gives me a great big smile, the light turns green, and we end up driving back to the silicon valley doing 100-110mph most of the way.

It wasn't a race per se, because I let her go in front of me after a while and just followed. While it was fun, I wouldn't have done this if I had felt there was significant danger, it was about 02:00, the freeway was virtually empty, and I left an empty lane between me and any car I passed (to account for people changing lane without looking).
That night, I felt lucky afterwards, not for still being alive, because I am used to 80-100mph driving on the freeway, and honestly, when it's just about empty, you can drive quite fast on those roads, but because there wasn't a single cop on the whole 40 mile stretch of freeway we just drove (and usually you'll see at least one or two CHP cars every time you drive it).
Sure, I was watching for cops, but at night they can see you much better than you can see them.
So, that night I got lucky for not having gotten a very hefty fine for what the law describes as wreckless driving (they probably take your license too).

What did I learn?
Well, I still drive faster than 65mph on freeways when the road condition and traffic allow for it (yes, I do mean this, lane weaving while speeding on the freeway is dangerous and stupid), but only during daytime when I have a reasonable chance at seeing CHP cars.

1999/08 & 2000/03: Near rear end collisions

Ok, once I actually bumped into someone's car, that was in LA, I wasn't paying attention for a second, and traffic stopped. I was driving 25 or so, and must have done a few miles an hour when I touched the car in front of me.
Outside of that, while driving around 70 on a clear freeway going to Monterey, the car in front of me stopped because of a stupid dog that was allowed to cross the road. I was able to break an stop within a few meters of the car in front of me. My brakes did lock at the end and I slid a bit, but in a controlled manner.
I owe the collision avoidance to acute reflexes, a safe enough driving distance between the car in front of me and mine, and a little luck of course.

Once, in Sunnyvale, while driving a bit too aggressively (I sometimes do this at relatively low speeds in the city), I was following a guy who was driving fairly fast (40mph ?) and decided to brake for no reason and almost had me run into him. That time, I probably didn't have a safe distance between his car and mine, but was able to stop within a few meters of his car too. I guess I was a little bit luckier that time.

What did I learn?
Not tailgating people is a good thing, I've been rather good about not doing that and I continue to be vigilant about leaving enough space between the car in front of me and mine

2000/04 & 2000/06: Near accidents

First, on 237, coming back from a ski trip at Lake Tahoe, I was in the rightmost late, close to my exit and the guy next lane merges right onto my car. I was able to accelerate and avoid him but not by much.
The guy follows me and stops at the red light right next to me. He pulls down his window and before I get the chance to ask him what's wrong with him, he apologizes for falling asleep at the wheel. Gotta love those people who don't know when they should pull over and rest a bit

Later, in the city, a convertible with four young girls apparently more busy chatting, laughing and applying makeup than watching traffic, changed lanes without signaling (not that I expect anyone to signal anymore, sigh...) and almost ran into my car too. I was able to brake just before they touched my car.

What did I learn?
Nothing that I didn't know already, some people just don't know how to drive and pay no attention whatsoever to the road.

2000/06/17 (Sat): Bad Accident

Well, maybe it shouldn't say it's bad. Any accident you walk away from is a good accident as they say.
While you can see all the pictures here, I'm sure you wouldn't expect anyone to walk away from this:

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and while I can't say I walked away without a scratch, litterally, all I had was a single small scratch on the knee.

[picture]

So what happened?
Would you believe me if I told you that it took me all of 3 hours to total the 97 Miata that I just bought, and more than half that time I spent at home waiting for a friend to come over...
My friend offered to go drive in the Mountains that lead to highway one, by the ocean, and since it was a nice day and a perfect time to use the convertible, I accepted.
We drove for a while without any problems and then we went on a somewhat more crappy road. On my 5th or 6th turn, I believe my right rear wheel was too far on the side of the road (I stay away from the center in winding roads where you have no visibility and where some people cut corners and sometimes use part of your lane), and slipped in the dirt when I accelerated at the end of the curve.
This caused the car to swerve to the right, I compensated to the left, then to the right and ended up going off the road to the left. What happened here is that I wasn't used to driving a rear wheel drive car, and didn't have the training to put the car straight after the back slid to the side in just one steering wheel adjustment.

While the above is merely a reconstitution of what happened as seen by my friend, who was driving in front of me and saw me drive off the road in his rear view mirror, I do remember some of it. Whatever happened after that never got imprinted in my brain however... The car climbed a little pile of sand on the side of the road, and went flying for a short time before apparently lending on one tire, bouncing back, flipping over, and probably sliding downhill a bit while upside down.
All I remember was no visual or auditory input right before I drove off the road (I probably closed my eyes, but I don't remember even seeing my eyes closed). I do remember going in a relaxed state (nope, I didn't have a flashback of my life or anything like that) and waiting for the car to stop moving. I vaguely sensed that the car went upside down, but I have no idea if it just flipped or rolled a few times (looking at the path it took, it probably only flipped).
Once the car stopped moving, I apparently re-opened my eyes, saw the broken windshield still in one piece in front of me, and I was apparently hanging upside down by my seat belt. I guess I must have unhooked myself without falling on my head, opened the door and left the car. Looking back at it, the windshield was the only piece of the car that prevented my head from being the first thing to hit the ground; it did bend down, but was still sticking up enough that only the car touched the ground (I probably also tucked in the seat a bit). Apparently, nothing whatsoever touched me, which is a small miracle. I'm guessing that I scratched my knee when I was upside down, unhooked the safety belt, and got off the car.
It's only then that my brain started recording what was happening. I remember going back in the car to turn it off, and then another time to turn the lights off. After that I proceeded with climbing up to find my friend and tell him that I was fine. What's funny is that I was in a deep relaxed state, and wasn't the slightest bit agitated. I'm told that it's what adrenaline does to you.

After going back to get my stuff from the car (and from inside the trunk, which if you look at the car's position, wasn't that easy), a ranger showed up as other people who had seen the accident called him, and then a sheriff, a couple of CHP officers, and eventually a couple of tow trucks which had a hell of a time getting the car from down there (and flattened the windshield some more in the process, so the car wasn't as flat as it looked once it was on the tow truck)

So what did I do wrong?
Well, 4 things

AAA told me the tires where still good for about 6000 miles, but they weren't in very good shape, and I'm certain that decent tires would have prevented the back slide that caused the accident (I found out later that their inpection sheet showed that the rear right tire, the one that lost traction on the outside of the turn, was the one that had the least thread left. What a coincidence...)
I know very well how to handle car sliding on a front wheel drive, I've purposely trained in safe areas for the day my then current car (Mazda Protege 1990) would slide for whatever reason. Unfortunately, while I know some of the theory about recovering from the back sliding sideways on a rear wheel drive, that amounts to jack squat when you lose control and you need to recover your steering (basically you have to correct by turning the wheels in the opposite direction, but you need to guess and have the wheels go straight again before the back has finished recovering).
Almost the first thing I did after getting the car is going in mountain roads. I hadn't planned for it, but it was still a bad move, it'd have been better if I had used the car for a few weeks and gotten used to its steering.
I was somewhat overconfident. While I wasn't really speeding (I'm estimating I was going between 15 and 20mph in the turn), I probably accelerated a bit too much at the end of the turn. I'd have recovered in a snap on my Protege because I know it so well, but that didn't apply to the Miata.

What did I learn?

Flipping over in a convertible is a really bad idea.
I never really liked mountain roads because they offer no second chance. I'll be even more careful now
I already knew that it could come it handy to know how to handle your car when it slips. Too bad this happened in the car that I hadn't learned to handle yet.
It was a good idea that I was forced to get full coverage on the car before driving it off the lot.

What now?

While the insurance company is going to hate me, I feel I'm getting a good return on my premium. 3H of coverage pro-rated is 50 cents, and I'm getting a $13000 car replaced for that price.
I can't honestly say that I've started driving 65mph on freeways. I think 80mph is a good number for most of them, and it happens to be the legal speed limit in France. Of course, it still depends on the road condidions
I do intend more than ever to learn how to drive a rear wheel drive car.
After seeing how much money I lost in the deal, I'll probably buy another convertible in a month or two. Update: Geicko paid back every cent I paid (including sales taxes and DMV fees) minus the $500 deductible. Cool...

2000/08/09: I bought a new miata, a white 1995 one with power everything, and it is all in all better than the first one I got (and cheaper too: $8500, since it's two years older). This time, I took care to take pictures before driving it
2000/09/12: It was a pleasant surprise to find out that Geicko charged me less for the new Miata than the old one (admittedly, it is older, but I was afraid they'd penalize me for the 97 they had to pay back to me.
2000/09/16: I went to exorcise the daemon and went back for a ride where I crashed (alpine road), and was both more careful and had a better car (suspension/tires) to go with
2000/10/30: I take back what I said about Geicko: they considerably raised my rates when it was time to renew the policy. I switched to AAA which did penalize me a little bit for the accident, but not that much in comparison

2000/08/31: My car was broken into

Not that it'd be the first time, it got broken into in San Francisco and my laptop was stolen (it was the night of the first Mozilla party), and later, someone broke into my car to steal my $50 radar detector, kinda lame...
Anyway, this time my car gets broken into in front of the Health club I go to, in broad daylight, and guess what, the loser steals $5 of coins, a $20 pair of snikers in my trunk, and (more annoying) my little bag of random toys in my jacket pocket (rechargeable NiMH batteries, phone battery, contact lenses, and random useful tools).

You're probably asking, So, where's the lucky part anyway?. Well, my $1600 5 day old Empeg car player, in plain sight was left alone, as well as my attach� case in the trunk (although the shoes where stolen from the trunk), and it contained my original passport which I needed the next day for my green card process, as well as the renewal of the passport itself. Take my word for it, losing it would have severely sucked.

2000/10: Another couple of near accidents

Well, this time it was nothing less than two consecutive days in a row. I was driving on normal streets, and people who were driving a bit slower than me changed lanes with no warning (don't want to use up those turn signal bulbs, they must be expensive). Twice, I had to slam on my breaks and didn't avoid their cars by much.
The first guy was coming slow from the right and somehow tried to speed up and change lanes at the same time. The second one had his head up his butt and had no idea where he was going and either decided to change lanes for no reason or drifted into my lane by mistake...

2000/10: Injuries

So first, my pinky burst open after being crushed by a 100lb piece of computer equipement that I was carrying when my feet got caught in some heavy plastic wrapping that was on the floor (what do you want, I'm stupid, I tried to save the equipment instead of letting it go). While the finger injury was severe and could have cut my finger, or severed the nerve, it was just ugly but it healed up after a month. In the same fall, I busted one of my knees, and while it swole up quite badly and my leg had to be restrained for a week, nothing broke or got torn up and I recovered within 6 to 8 weeks.

During that time, I also got injured at the EEBall while I was in a crowd, just millimeters below my eye. Nothing bad happened, just a scratch that healed a few days later. I shudder at the thought of this happening a few minimeters higher...

It's where the term "Dumb luck" is appropriate I believe. If one day I get some injury where I'm not so lucky, so be it...

2001/03: Drunk or very dangerous driver

Somehow, most near-misses seem to happen on the road. Figures...
This time, some completely crazy or drunk person driving south on 880 towards 237 never saw that the rightmost lane was being closed off, and that cones where merging his lane onto the right one (the one I was in). He hit with his huge SUV at least 3 cones and two went flying in front of my car. Since I knew from autocrossing that hitting a few cones isn't that bad, I tried to chose an angle that didn't look too bad and knocked them further myself.
Ideally, I should have avoided them, but I had less than 2 seconds to react and it wasn't enough to change lanes safely, so I went for the slight damage to my front bumper instead, after all cones are light and plastic, so they're not too dangerous.

The worst part is that I followed that wako as I was also merging on to 237, and he was just flying left and right changing lanes at the last second, and guess what, there was some work on 237 too, and he hit more cones there too. After I had his license plate number, I let him go, and parked next to some cops who were on the side of the road, and gave them his description.
They said, they'd radio that ahead, but it didn't look like they actually did it :-(

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2004/03: Near miss, again

Man, almost 3 years since last time I reported being really lucky. Actually, there were several occurences, like being layed off from VA Software in time to join Google when it was still a good time to join

and the number of times I could have hurt myself snowboarding, but didn't (just to name a few)

Anyway, I shouldn't stop updating this page. Today, I had a fairly scary episode (it had been a while, I guess 3 years now), where I was taking my favorite off ramp (which I can take past 80mph) around 70mph, without really pushing it, and out of habit, I turned my high beams, so as to better see the curve that I was going to drive on (night time).
Well, some guy realizes at the very last second that this was his exit too, and while driving 5mph or so, almost pulls in front of me, in a way that I'm not sure I would have been able to avoid him.
Luckily, I think my (upgraded) high beams gave him a clue that he was making a big mistake, and he stopped merging, letting me pass by with little room to spare. It may be that I owe not having a wrecked car, and personal injury, to my upgraded headlights. If so, they were definitely worth every penny...

Conclusion

If I ever get run over while crossing the street, or catch some rare disease, or something else that people might consider unlucky, don't go and blame luck for it. I've already had my share of luck, so it's only fair if I get really unlucky one day.
If I believed in someone watching over me (I'm not sure I want that, it feels little too easy), I'd say that I've already been given a second chance (at least as far as the driving off the road and flipping a convertible part is concerned)

Some say "what doesn't kill you makes you stronger", I'd say "what doesn't kill you makes you wiser" (or if it doesn't, you probably deserve to be killed next time )

Email

2000/06/18 (19:53) Version 1.0
2000/06/19 (16:26) Version 1.1. Fixed typos, added saying
2000/07/14 (10:40) Version 1.2. Added info on what geicko paid
2000/08/31 (22:56) Version 1.3. Added section on car theft
2000/09/14 (22:56) Version 1.4. Found out that the rear right tire had the least thread left. What a surprise...
2000/09/16 (22:56) Version 1.5. Went back to alpine road...
2000/10/22 (23:23) Version 1.6. Near car misses again, finger, Eeball
2000/11/17 (11:07) Version 1.7. Fixed URLS, added AAA insurance info
2001/11/06 (23:21) Version 1.8. Converted to new pict libraries in /Pix
2004/03/11 (23:11) Version 1.9. New update in a while / Normalized dates