What Happens in DC stays in DC - Part 3

Incident 3 - The Innocent Bystander

Most of us often ponder about the things that we wished to happen but which never happened. We look back at past events and ask ourselves a thought provoking question - 'what if?', the answer to which is seldom known. What if I had done something different? What if I had not spoken those words? What if I had studied more? What if I had prepared better? Questions like these about parallel realities often trouble us after we make a mistake or end up doing something that causes grief and dissatisfaction. But how many times have we used the same question to ponder about the things that which almost happened but we never wish for it happen in the first place? It is a rare feeling that often accompanies a moment of relief. Thank God, it never happened! What if I had failed in my exams? What if my secrets had been revealed? What if I had met with an accident? And today, I write this blog post with the same kind of relief that certain events that I did not wish to experience swept past me as mere possible parallel realities, instead of the one true eternal reality.

The third eventful incident in our colorful DC trip was nothing short of a tryst with mortal peril. It was an incident that lasted barely for a second, yet it managed to permanently etch itself in my memory.

It was mid afternoon. The weather was glorious. The sun shone brightly and the sky was blue and spotless. It was the commencement of Spring and the sight of the Blue Ridge Mountains was amazing. The Interstate in West Virginia was a pleasure to travel on...marvelously engineered for high speeds and breathtaking vistas. We were rocketing ahead at speed of around 90 miles an hour (around 145 kmph) and yet it felt completely normal, as normal as driving in the bumper to bumper traffic in Delhi! Everyone was driving at the same speed. We were in a long straight section of the road with three lanes on each side, comfortably separated by a grassy divider as wide as a two-lane road.

The highway was busy yet smooth, as cars and trucks freely moved on both sides. It was then that I saw a huge truck (that looked not very different from the likes of Optimus Prime and his transforming buddies) approaching from the opposite side of the road. The payload section of the truck was open and a huge black colored mass was stacked on it. As the truck approached closer, I realized that those black objects were truck tyres, neatly stacked on top of one another and held together by a harness.

All of a sudden, one of the tyres magically broke loose from the harness, popped out of the back of the truck and bounced across the road. Before our minds could register what was happening, the rogue tyre bounced once on the grassy divider and jumped right at us. And it was at that fleeting moment when I saw the tyre coming towards us like a canonball, that I realized that we were in serious danger.

Let us do a quick analysis of the situation. The diameter of the tyre was a big as the extent of my outstretched arms. Since both our car and truck were traveling at around 90 miles per hour, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that the tyre was heading at us at around 150 miles per hour (assuming the loss of speed owing to the other directional components and to the one bounce on the divider). Although I didn't think of all these calculations during that moment, I knew for sure that with that momentum, the tyre could easily smash the windshield, if not crush our car.

The incident happened so fast that I cannot recollect what happened next. All I remember is the feeling of instantaneous shock being replaced by instantaneous relief as I saw the tyre miraculously miss our car, and the other car to our right, and roll harmlessly into the fields beyond. Perhaps, B, who was driving the car, made a split second turn or perhaps the tyre simply managed to bounce over the bonnet of the car...I really can't say what happened.

What harm can a rogue tyre cause, you may ask?

In July 2009, Formula 2 driver Henry Surtees, son of F1 legend John Surtees was hit by a rogue tyre during a race in Brands Hatch. He was instantly killed.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j1zqL86w0Gk
(I had seen this video countless times. Imagine how I would've felt when I saw that tyre coming straight at us!)
A few days later, F1 driver Felipe Massa was also hit by a rogue tyre on the race track, leading to a serious injury on his eyes and head.

Agreed that we were not traveling in an open top vehicle and not as fast as an F2 car, but still, a variety of 'what if' situations were possible. What if the tyre smashed our windshield? What if we lost control and smashed into the car adjacent to us? What if the tyre hit the car next to us and that car lost control and rammed into us? What if we braked to avoid the tyre and got pummeled from the back by an 18-wheeler? Each of these situations could have possibly led to fatal injuries, if not death! (a la 'Final Destination').We were indeed lucky to escape unscathed.

When I look back at this incident, I realize one brutal truth about life. No matter how much you may claim to be in control of your life, there are certain events that defy rationale, certain things that defy logic, things that are simply beyond your control no matter what you do.

I believe it is called Fate...