Every 13 minutes….

I was in my parked car. Another car attempted to make a u-turn. It came EXTREMELY close to mine.

I shook my head in both anger and amazement while sharing a grin with a pedestrian waiting in the crosswalk. I then deliberately looked to see how old the car’s driver was. The media’s impact on me was obvious.

For the last three weeks, the Boston media has highlighted the hazards of older drivers. I read and recognized the facts. "In 1997, older people made up 9 percent of the resident population but accounted for 14 percent of all traffic fatalities and 17 percent of all pedestrian fatalities." (http://www.drdriving.org/elderly/)

Yet here's another statistic: "About 115 people die everyday in vehicle crashes in the United States. One death every 13 minutes."

That one has nothing to do with age! But it does serve to remind us that every 13 minutes we manage to escape being the person behind the wheel of the car that has collided into another car; slammed into the wall of a home, or crushed a pedestrian.

Look at a clock 13 minutes from now. Still there? You made it. But somebody else didn't.