Greenbug

I call my film “Horses are Pretty”

…because horses ARE pretty.

When I was looking into buying my Mini, I had a long conversation with my sister and brother-in-law about pros and cons. I wasn’t considering a large car – at the time I was looking to get rid of my “big honkin’ Corolla”. Still, we talked about some benefits over SUVs. One thing you hear a lot when people are talking SUV vs. small cars is that these behemoths are safer due to sheer brute size (and, in a feat of circular logic, people often argue that you can’t be safe driving a small car with so many big cars around). Both actual data and personal experience have demonstrated to me that the argument that SUVs are somehow safer is merely market-led delusion. One argument the aforementioned Team Americano made when we were discussing my car choice was that a Mini could steer quickly around an unforeseen obstacle (say, a fallen tree branch, or a deer), where an SUV might not be able to react with sufficient nimbleness. The best way to survive a collision is not to have one in the first place, of course.

So, I got to put that theory to the test last night on my commute home. I take a toll highway for part of my (very long) drive, and the speed limit on it is 70MPH. It’s a fairly new highway and not particularly well lit, and these winter nights mean that I drive in pitch black, save my super awesome Xenon headlights which Sam insisted I get (thank the maker!). So I am cruising along in the right hand lane at probably 72mph, and the car ahead of me suddenly barrels into the left lane – clearly something is wrong. I only have a few seconds to see what the car is dodging, while simultaneously lamenting that there is another car immediately to my left. I see what is probably a large roll of carpet or industrial insulation taking up the entire width of my lane, and standing about two to three feet high. I know I can’t dodge to the left (car). The right hand shoulder on this road is narrow and inconsistent, and sometimes drops off onto a steep hill, but I figure I don’t have a choice in the matter, and go for it. Now within feet of the carpet-thing, I jerk the car sharply to the right, pull the wheel to straighten out as fast as I can (given the narrowness of the shoulder), and am immediately faced with a second carpet-thing directly in front of me in the shoulder. I jerk the car back to the left and back into my original lane, again, barely missing the second (and, as it turns out, last) obstacle. And then hyperventilate.

There are a couple of things I suspect about these events. One – had I been driving, say, a Yukon, not only would it not have fit in the path I followed to dodge the carpet-things, it almost certainly would have rolled over had I tried to turn it so sharply at that speed.

Two – had I been on the phone, eating, drinking coffee, or even distracted by a really interesting NPR story (and these last two I often do on this particular stretch of road), I probably would have hit one of the two things and flipped my own car, or instinctively swerved into the left lane and hit the car next to me.

Colorado recently failed to pass a law that would have required all cell phone driving to be hands-free. I was disappointed at the time, as nothing makes me more nervous than a person driving near me who is clearly on the phone and only ceremonially touching their steering wheel. Today I have another reason and a bit of evidence to further regret the failure of that law to come into being – though I have no doubt that it will someday, hopefully someday soon.

The moral of the story: pay attention. And, Minis are awesome*. The end.

*Five years ago, we were rear-ended at high speeds (yes, this can happen) and the Mini ricocheted across a Los Angeles highway and hit a concrete wall. All three of us in the car got out without a scratch. So that’s two I owe you, car.