Near car crash experience.

Last Sunday, a friend of ours had a thanksgiving service for their daughter. There was the customary 'bit of a do' afterwards. It was raining when we left and so I was dispatched to bring the car back from the car park. Having loaded the children and wife into the car, along with all sorts of leftover culinary delights we set off. Trying to turn right onto the busy main road was proving a little tricky, when fortunately someone pressed the button on the pedestrian crossing. As the lights turned amber, I thought the oncoming car was stopping and so began to trundle out, checking as I went that the other way was clear. Unfortunately, the car I thought was stopping, wasn't. It appeared instead to have sped up in order to get through the lights and was now speeding towards us. There was a shriek from my wife, I promptly stalled the car and watched helplessly as the oncoming car's brakes locked and it glided on the wet road towards us. As happens on these occasions, everything seemed to slow down. The skidding car was coming closer, I tried to reverse, but couldn't get the car started in time. I remember thinking that the other car was not going to stop and by the look on the other driver's face he didn't either.

With about a foot to spare, his car finally stopped. We all paused. He was looking at me and he didn't appear to be in the mood for pleasantries. My wife noted that his wife was holding a young child on her lap in the back and neither seemed to be wearing a seatbelt. I was urged to wind down the window and apologise – which I duly did, and then finally managed to reverse our car out of the way. It was very close, and I have to confess it was my fault – although I did want to enquire from the other driver if he had in fact driven through a red light and how fast he was going and why his family was breaking the law in regards to their restraints. However, it hardly seemed to be the time or place. I am very thankful to God for preserving us that day – just another foot and the day and our new car would have turned out very differently.