Wednesday, April 24 2024 - 3:17 PM
Photo by Dreamstime

A Runaway Car

One beautiful autumn morning my husband and I traveled along the New York State Thruway, listening to music on cassettes rather than chatting.

The year before we had visited Norman’s family and friends in England. And since his brother and sister-in-law had never been to America, we helped make it possible for them to visit our country. We were to pick them up at the airport in Toronto, Canada.

The traffic was light. A little Volkswagen hauling a small U-Haul trailer had been following us for quite some distance. Eventually, it passed us and was still in the passing lane, when a black car coming from the opposite direction headed for the median.

Certainly he’d right himself. But he didn’t. He kept coming, driving across both lanes and across the median.

Car Crash

“Oh, Norman!” was all that I could say. We began slowing down.

The runaway car continued on, clipped the rear end of the trailer, sending the Volkswagen and trailer into a spin, ending up in the median.

The black car lost some of its speed and continued on, heading for us. We were able to stop just in time to avoid a crash. It continued on until it reached an incline on the ground.

The whole thing had happened so quickly, but afterward it played itself over and over in my mind in slow action.

Now what? This was before everybody had cell phones in their pocket so we had no way to contact anyone. However, a tractor trailer came along and the driver, realizing we had a problem, stopped.

He came to our car to see if we were all right. “I’ll radio for help.”

It wasn’t long before the police arrived, then the three men walked over to check on the driver. The driver of the Volkswagen and I remained in our cars.

“Did he fall asleep at the wheel?” I asked Norman when he came back.

“I don’t know. He was slumped over the wheel. I don’t know if he’s dead or just asleep.”

The officer checked on the girl in the Volkswagen before coming to us. “She’s on her way to college,” he explained. “The trailer has a slight dent, but otherwise there’s no damage. And she’s not injured.”

We assured him that we had no contact and were okay. As soon as he had finished taking our statements, the girl was on her way to college, and we were on our way to Toronto.

God’s Protection

Although we were a bit shaken up over what had happened, we were reminded of God’s protection over us. We could have been seriously injured. Our car would have been a wreck – undriveable – possibly totaled. Ruby and Ron would have been stuck in the airport with no one to meet them and no place to go.

We always begin our trips with prayer for safety on the road, but now was time for another quick prayer. A prayer of thanksgiving for keeping us safe.

Marion Tickner writes from New York.

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About Marion Tickner

Marion Tickner

writes from New York.

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