“Groping”… Naaaaah!

Test driving a new vehicle - one you aren’t familiar with - which has all the new “bells and whistles” - can be stressful.

But you can end up smiling!

Here we go!

I’ve tested out a couple of new cars recently.

You’re probably already feeling sympathy for the salesman who had to ride along with me!

Safety devices or just confusing?

Keep in mind that nowadays you can be overwhelmed by all the gadgets that are supposed to help you drive safer.  There are lights flashing and warning beeps and just general chaos as you drive along.  

In my confusion I realized this was not starting well.   

Actually, all I wanted was an empty parking lot where I could figure out what every thing meant.   

Trying again!

It took a couple of weeks before I was ready to try driving another car.

My son instructed me to tell the salesman to just let me sit in the car for ten minutes while I got used to everything in its place.

This one did.  And I love the car… and I didn’t have to have all the beeping on to bother me.

After awhile we headed onto the freeway and we were good.

Here it is folks!

We came off the freeway and maneuvered through the crowded big city streets.  Four lanes of traffic were converging on the upcoming intersection.

I was in traveling in the right lane.

All of a sudden, a vehicle came from the opposite side of the intersection and cut in front of the car next to me and swooped in front of me before sweeping into a business driveway.

I never saw the car… until it was slashing through my lane!

I found that my reflexes were great as I slammed on the brakes and avoided a collision.

The funny part is coming.  

Now some of you might remember that a few years ago we didn’t have seat belts in cars.   I was a mother of small children.  So I had trained myself to swing my right arm over to the passenger seat and protect a young one from falling forward.    

And so I automatically did the same thing to protect the salesman riding along with me!

Except there was a problem!  He was a big fellow.  While I had jammed on the brakes and held onto the steering wheel with my left hand - I took my right hand and grabbed him.

Except I didn’t grab his chest.  I grabbed his leg!  Well… actually his upper thigh…  kind of closer to his crotch.   (Also known as the groin or the lower ventral area to some of my more shy readers.)

The conclusion?

When the excitement was over I told him that today he could go home and tell his wife that an 80 year old grandmother saved him from a collision while she almost grabbed his crotch!

But more important…

But I also realized that there are times when avoiding an accident needs your personal quick response… which you get by paying attention to your driving.  Because you may need to make a decision before these new safety features can respond. 

Just a thought.