Turning right while looking left

I was not hurt but last night it finally happened after 8 years of running. I got hit by a car.

I was going to yoga class at the Community Center after work, running along a secondary arterial road, next to the curb by the sidewalk on the left side. From there I could watch for approaching traffic and if I came upon a parked car that would force me into the traffic lane when a car was coming, I could get up on the sidewalk. An SUV was driving up to a stop sign on a side street on my left that I was starting to cross.

I couldn’t see where the driver was looking because this gas-wasting Detroit monstrosity was too frickin’ tall. I now suppose that the driver was merely looking to her left as she approached the stop sign at the T-intersection, making sure that she didn’t get hit by an approaching vehicle with the right-of-way as she made a right turn onto the through-street I was running along. Pedestrians to her right crossing the side street? Let them eat cake!

A car was approaching. I guess the SUV driver decided that, having slowed for the stop sign, she should accelerate into her turn to beat the oncoming car. I was watching her vehicle and had skirted out into the roadway a little to give it some leeway but suddenly there was this wall of metal coming right at me.

"Hey!" I yelled as the bumper came into me and I put out my hands to fend off the car. The SUV was pushing me and I didn't want to fall underneath it. Really, I had nowhere to go.

I grabbed a fistful of grill with one hand and pushed off to see if I could somehow propel my body around to the side of the SUV. Its hood was too high up to try to hop onto but I used my other hand to whack it with my water bottle. The vehicle lurched to a sudden stop.

I screamed, "What’s the matter with you!" and flung my water bottle into the SUV’s bumper. It rebounded and rolled away rapidly across the road. The approaching car also stopped. I ran after my water bottle, retrieved it and stood up to glare at the offensive driver. She sat there immobile behind the wheel, face frozen, staring at me with both fists crammed into her mouth.

Fortunately I wasn’t injured, although I had jammed the middle finger of my right hand. So I couldn’t even give her the bird. What are you gonna do?

After scowling for a second, I ran off to my yoga class, after which I ran a measured mile back to my house in 6:54. It felt good to be alive.