I almost killed someone with my truck last night. I was coming up the hill between Turners and Greenfield, and just as it curves to the right near the top, where the shoulder is less than a foot wide, and there was a car coming the opposite way. I was down hill from it, so its lights hit my eyes and momentarily diminished my vision. The car passed, my vision returned, and right there in front of me was a young man in a black hoodie walking up the hill on the inside of the curve. I swerved and missed him at the last second, but less than 12 inches divided the future where I go home and have a nice dinner with my family from the future where my bumper impacted human flesh, and whump! whump! as 3,500 pounds of truck ended his life and ruined mine. I’ve been driving for 28 years, and never had an accident. My night vision is good, and my reflexes are fast. I don’t drive under the influence of any substances, I don’t mess with the radio or my phone. I constantly scan for hazards, and I keep my windshield clean. Had any of those factors been different, or had it been raining or foggy, or had he been a little farther from the curb, or had either one of us been a little less lucky, he would be dead and I’d be guilty of vehicular manslaughter. At some point, that narrow, curvy, dark, busy road — the only practical walking route from Turners to Greenfield — will be fixed so that it can safely accommodate pedestrians. The question is, will we do it before someone dies, or after?

Bryan Dolan

Greenfield

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