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Another Random Road Story #591

Finally my light turned green.

Almost done with this one. Another $10 for me. Need a few more tonight.
About to take off from the light, I noticed that the approaching car still wasn’t slowing down. I
first noticed that in the seconds between his light turning yellow and mine turning green. Now his
light was full red. But he seemed to be traveling at the same steady speed.

I didn’t let off the brake even though my light had been green for a second already.
I was staring out the window intently, as if lost in my own little world. Really, I was trying to
judge the oncoming car’s deceleration to see if it was my imagination or what... because of
course the car was going to stop.

“The light’s green,” said the customer.
It wasn’t my imagination: That car definitely wasn’t slowing down.
“Yeah...” I said to the man, never moving my eyes from the approaching car. “Watch this...”
At just about that moment the car’s driver must have realized the red light (and me about to
cross) just a city-block in front of him, because he slammed on the brakes. The car had been
cruising along at a good clip, probably 35 mph. The sudden slam on the brakes immediately
caused the car’s wheels to lock up. Momentum kept propelling it forward at a good pace. The
car also started to angle just the slightest bit, as skidding cars will do. The car skidded the whole
length of that city-block’s distance.
The man in the backseat was now sitting forward in his seat and watching the scene unfold,
speechless. If I’d have looked at him I might have seen his mouth hanging open. But I was also
watching the scene unfold.
The car’s skid was very loud, and very long, in the quiet night. Several new black marks
appeared on the pavement behind the car. It was slowing fast but still moving forward as it
crossed its own stop-line painted on the street. In fact, it skidded halfway through the
intersection before it finally came to a stop. The skid sound faded, echoing off the buildings.
Now stopped, the car sat at a 45-degree angle in the middle of the intersection, directly in front
of us. It was still rocking slightly from the ordeal. The night seemed perfectly silent. The car’s
windows were tinted and raised, so I couldn’t see the driver. Oh but I could imagine what was
going through his mind.
“Holy shit!!” came an excited shout from the backseat. “Did you SEE that?! Oh. My. GOD!!”
The offending car was still stationary, still in the middle of the intersection in front of the cab. I
gave the driver the “go ahead” wave. It seemed a waste since he just worked so hard to stop.
But he was in the middle of the intersection so it only made sense for him to depart first.

Meanwhile I turned to my passenger, grinned and said, “Yeah actually I did see that. I saw him
coming. THAT’S why I didn’t take off from the light a minute ago.”

The man clapped me on the shoulder, laughing with excitement. “Wow! I thought you just
weren’t paying attention! Damn, I’m glad you WERE.”

Now it was my turn to laugh.
“Taxi customers think we’re here to keep the cops off your ass, or just to give you a ride from A
to B. But really, my job is to keep you safe from the other drunks out there. That’s what you pay
me for,” I said to the man in the backseat.

MD
– You just got passed... by a GIRL in a Freightliner!