one car away

Fate has this way of working, making you just a few seconds late to avoid an accident.  That happened to me this week.  On my drive to work there was a tracker trailer switching lanes.  He started to cross the line, apparently unaware that there was a car next to him.  That car was fast; when he realized the truck was crossing the lane and was just inches from him, he swirved right to avoid being struck by the truck....but in turn, hit the car that was in the farther right lane.  Apparently he didn't look to see where he was going, just knew that hitting  a car would be better than being hit by a big truck.  They pulled over to the side...but the truck didn't stop.  He didn't hit the car that was in the middle lane, but because of him, the accident happened.  I don't even know if the driver of the truck realized what happened, I know because I was directly behind and I saw the whole thing.  I debated if I should have pulled over too, an eye witness.  I was just a few feet away, saw it all happen.  I didn't think fast enough to pull out  my phone and video what was about to happen, even though, you see it happening in slow motion. I knew there would be a chain of events, and I started to plan my swerve route, if I needed one (I didn't).

But then I remember what happened to my father, he was a witness to a car accident, and had to give several interviews, was subpoenaed to court, testified and this carried on for almost a year.  He said he thought he was doing the right thing, but the way the law worked, it caused him a lot more trouble and time than it should have.  

I didn't stop.  I was a little shaky, thinking it could have been me that was either hit by the truck or hit a car to avoid the truck.  I was thankful that I didn't want to get up that morning and stayed in bed an extra few minutes, I am glad that I drove mostly in the right lane that day and other other event that landed me just one car away from the accident.