You may recall a couple of years ago I wrote about seeing a guy on a dirt bike run a red light and slam into the side of a pickup truck. I had a strong feeling I had just seen the last seconds of that guy's life, or the beginning of a life with very reduced physical capabilities. That was jarring, but I figured it was probably a once-in-a-lifetime event. Well, if I didn't watch another incredible crash yesterday, again as I was sitting at a light waiting to make a left turn.

I was on the highway in the left turn lane preparing to turn into Publix grocery store at about 6:50 at night. The light was green, but with no turn arrow. However, you can turn left on green in Georgia even if there's not an arrow. The silver SUV in front of me made his left and I moved up to await my turn. Then I heard a horn honk. What was the honking about?

I look at the silver SUV mid-turn and there's bits of chrome and fiber glass flying up in the air. Someone is clipping the front end of that SUV! He gets through the intersection, and then I see a dark SUV that had been coming down the highway on the opposite side skidding down the emergency lane, jump the curb and strike a signal post head-on and knock it over like a bowling pin. Holy crap!

There was a bunch of glass and whatnot in the intersection, so I went up a block and turned around. The damaged silver SUV was sitting in the Publix parking lot, and I saw a guy with his daughter in his arms on the hillside looking at the dark SUV that was sitting in front of the knocked-over signal post. I asked him if the people in the dark SUV were okay, and he said they were. "Did you see anything?," the guy asked me.

I told him yeah, I had been preparing to turn left and the silver SUV in front of me went, and then suddenly I heard this big noise. He said "I think that guy ran the light," pointing to the dark SUV.

I said, "I think the light was green, but there was no turn arrow, so the silver SUV must have pulled out in front of that guy."

The guy holding his daughter said, "He just came out of nowhere..." Then I realized, Aha! This was the guy in the silver SUV!

Firetrucks were on their way. The police asked the guy to pull his silver SUV into the BP parking lot across the street, if he could. I guess I should have stayed around to witness, but then I would have to take day off from work, and although I think the silver SUV was at fault, I was just as surprised by the appearance of that black SUV as he was. Of course after I was miles away I started thinking, What if the police get it wrong and the poor guy in that black SUV gets blamed? And I also wonder, did that black SUV have their headlights on? I know they were off after they whacked that pole. Could that be why the guy in the silver SUV didn't see them?

I've now been front-row for two calamities like that in just a couple of years' time. How long before I'm an actual participant? Hopefully forever.