I live on Elkins Road and have for most of my long life.  The grammar school I attended for seven years was on (now) Elkins Road.  I have traveled the road thousand of time during my life.  The road is named after my mother’s family.  Elkins Road intersects with two other roads, Old Hamer Road and where Mount Calvary Road begins.  The intersection is obvious to any alert motorist; there are stop signs prominently placed and indeed white markings on the pavement at the intersections.  And there are no obvious hindrances to block the view of the intersections by the motorist unless he is oblivious to the signs and markings and perhaps most importantly not paying attention and by the way, speeding.
Alone, I had just left church around noon on a cool spring morning with perfect visibility and as I approached the fateful crossing about 100+ yards from my destination, I decreased my moderate speed, gave a proper turning signal and prepared to make a legal left turn onto Elkins Road from Old Hamer Road.  But I did not make it. Instead I had to abruptly apply the brakes to my car in order to avoid being broadsided by a red, four door speeding car that for whatever reason failed to yield to me the right of way.  Fortunately/providentially I was a mere one second too early before entering the death trap crossing and somehow missing my date with my Maker. After making my turn, I looked in my rear view mirror and noticed that the car had stopped at an address also on Elkins Road, ironically a church for which he was arriving and another one from which I was departing.
My initial reactions: fear, anger, thankfulness.  My first thought was relief; however here I was minding my own business, obeying the traffic laws all of which made no difference in what might have happened. I was the unlucky victim and the deadly results could have made me an instant part of history.  Life would have ended.  I would henceforth have been a mere memory soon forgotten all because of unfortunately poor timing on my part and an ignored stop sign.
But when you think of it, any driver on, say, US 301 or most assuredly I-95 is only a millisecond from the same fate except for the details.  On US 301, how long does it take an oncoming vehicle to invade your rightful traffic lane?  Basically your life is really in the hands of the oncoming driver whom you implicitly trust to obey the rules.  But the rare event does occur and potentially you could make the evening news.  Dead right – by the way.
There must be a lesson in such an event.  One is that life is supremely unpredictable.  Although fatalistic to consider, still you really don’t know if you will make it back home tonight and simply because of no fault of yours.   Accidents happen.
Perhaps most importantly, in this unlikely yet possible case, you should absolutely be prepared to make your case before the Great Judge should the unexpected time come.  And when is that time?  Perhaps   you will be given time to prepare?
Or not.
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Bill Lee, PO Box 128,
Hamer, SC 29547