I shouldn't have taken that right turn. From the quiet neighborhood street to a backroad I laughed with my friend about something unimportant which distracted me from the small black sedan flying down the road. I glanced at him and turned. There were at least fifty feet between our cars, yet it was a close call with his car going twenty miles over the speed limit. He veered into the left lane, then in a fit of rage cut me off in the intersection ahead. He nearly clipped the front of my car with his beat-up Nissan. I stomped the break. Usually, I would forgive someone, we all make mistakes, but something was off. He sped off, merged in the lane next to mine, and slowed his car. I peeked past my friend and saw him rolling down his foggy window. I was thankfully naive enough to shrug it off as I merged into the left turn lane thinking the man had missed his turn. He jerked his car over the middle two lanes, tailgating me through the turn. This caught my attention as I could see the white of his eyes through my rearview mirror. His face was furious and contorted with rage. I took a deep, shaky breath, trying to relax then continued with a hypervigilant focus on both the road and the vicious person just seconds from rear-ending me. My friend spoke in an even tone, I could sense her fear nonetheless. I told her I would try the three-turn rule before we drove to a police station. The rule was to take three random turns to evaluate if you were being followed. It was absolutely certain after the third turn that the man in the black car was angry with bad intentions. His front bumper was mere inches from mine.
My passenger told me to be calm, to breathe, to turn right on a main road, and to have witnesses in case something was about to happen. The man violently pulled around on my left and began screaming at me pointing aggressive fingers and throwing up his hands. I quickly turned out on the main road and he followed, close on my tail. I told my friend to call 911 and just as she was dialing the number I came to a stop at a left turn lane. In my side mirror, I saw a large man with shaved head tattoos and an unkept beard jump from the car and storm toward me. I screamed and held my door shut. In a panic, I froze. I saw the lock on the door but my knuckles turned white as I held the handle tight. I heard screams from my friend to drive, drive, drive although the arrow was red. The man was at my window pounding with a callused fist. He screeched nonsense, clearly under the influence. He must have been under the age of thirty, even so, his face was wrinkled and his sunken eyes had been tainted yellow. I felt hot, terrified tears spill from my cheeks as I stepped on the gas through the red light. In a parking lot nearby, a police officer stood, a gift from God. I parked my car and held my door with one hand, my friend's trembling hand in the other. The cop helped us calm down and stayed by us until we felt safe to drive again.
This incident happened a year ago when I had just gotten my first car. Today I am thankful to my friend for keeping me calm as well as for the experience. Remaining calm and using the three-turn rule saved me from freezing the way I did when he approached me when I first noticed his threatening behavior. For new drivers especially, the three-turn rule can safely allow drivers to assess if they are in danger or not. Some drivers may become panicked and assume they are being followed. The rule can assuage this fear and help drivers collect themselves before jumping to conclusions. I was thankful for this experience because it reminded me to keep a more conscious observance of other drivers while also showing me the importance of keeping a calm mind. I was a new driver and uneasy behind the wheel. New drivers need to know the correct steps to take if unexpected events occur. To become a safer driver it's needless to say to remain sober but to also look for impaired drivers. Defensive driving is key to avoiding unexpected incidents. Driving responsibly includes remaining sober but also educating yourself on how to handle unexpected events. Terrible events occurring due to irresponsible driving can be avoided if more drivers watch their surroundings while keeping the three-turn rule in mind if they sense danger. It's difficult to stop an intoxicated person from getting behind the wheel while it's more simple to watch for reckless drivers.