lol
Explanation:
My mistake was taking my eye off the road. My phone was buzzing to say I'd received a text, since I was parked at a red light, waiting three cars back, it seemed like it would be fine to just glance down and see what it was.
I couldn't have glanced down for more than a second or two. When I looked back, two teenagers were running towards the car from about ten yards away on the sidewalk, waving frantically.
The problem was, this wasn’t a good part of town. It was about 11:30pm, and the lighting was pretty poor. I couldn’t make out their faces clearly. For all I knew, they were gang members and this was some kind of initiation. In a few seconds, they’d be on top of me and I’d be out of options.
I looked back at the traffic light. It must have just turned green. I saw the brake lights ahead of me go out as people got ready to pull away.
Five seconds is a very long time, it turns out. It’s about one second between when the light changes and when you get impatient that the person in front of you hasn’t moved. So within a second of the light changing, the cars in front were pulling away and I was sat there in confusion, not knowing what to do.
The car behind me blew their horn. The street kids were getting closer, still waving their arms. NPR was blathering inside the car about something, so I couldn’t make out what they were saying over it. They seemed agitated, that was for sure. I should have turned down the radio, but I seemed to be transfixed, completely unsure what to do.
Now at least two or three cars were blowing their horns. And one of the kids had reached the car. He pounded on the window and I snapped.
I floored it.
I think maybe something happened as I pulled away. It was a bit like driving over a small stone or a speed bump or something. Just a modest “bomp bomp”, and I was away.
I didn’t look back for a while. When I did, I found no one was following me. That’s not a good sign, right? What had happened to those impatient cars behind me?
I still don’t know what happened exactly. Should I have stopped? I should have, right? Even though it’s a bad neighborhood. Is this what they call a hit and run? But I don’t even know for sure if I hit something, or if I did what it is. When I got home I checked the car, and there was no damage. I watched the news the next two nights, and there was no story about anything happening in that neighborhood.
And yet I can’t shake the thought that I did something so very wrong that night. Something I ought to report to the police, even if it costs me. I just looked down for a moment though, and I’m usually such a good driver. You can’t go to prison for that, right? Not if you’re doing your best…
heres somthing ig ot off reddit :)
