I remember this one time in my ‘going out’ days hanging somewhere in the West Village. I drove into the city from Long Island, where I still lived, so I didn’t drink much, if anything at all. This was probably around 2003. So I’m out at some bar (probably for someone’s birthday) and at like 4am I left the place to head home, with a full car of me plus four people. It was pouring sheets of water; an absolutely terrible storm. I remember turning up 6th Avenue to head uptown. Traffic, even at that hour, was typically NYC heavy—you always have to look out for bobbing and weaving cabs and the usual terrible drivers. My concentration was on high-alert. I remember seeing a red light ahead of me, and traffic slowing quickly, so I stop--not short, but probably more abruptly than I’d have liked considering the weather.
There was a cab behind me. Given the conditions—and the way cab drivers pay attention—he just didn’t see the brake lights ahead until it was too late. He tried to stop, he did not skid—but he was too close and slammed right into me. Pretty decent jolt, too.
Rear ended by a cab at 4am. F*ck!
I asked all my friends if they were ok. I think my friend Jen felt a little twinge in her neck, but nothing serious at all; luckily we were all fine. But this part I remember distinctly: there were two young girls in the cab, maybe 19. They looked like they shouldn’t have been out drinking anyway. Within a few seconds of the accident I saw the two girls rushing from the cab, one of them holding her face--nose gushing blood. They ran down the nearest street. It was obvious her face went clear into the plastic divider in the cab. I’ll never forget that.
I’ll also never forget the cab driver’s face. He looked petrified. Did he hurt anyone? Will those girls sue him? Will he be arrested? He must have had a million thoughts rush through his head in that one instant. I’ll never forget his medallion number either: 2Y76A. Those medallions are expensive. These guys come from the Middle East and North Africa to make a living for themselves and their families; many go into debt just to buy those cars. I think of him often, because he did over $3,000 of damage to my rear end, which his insurance paid for. Did that break him? Was he finished? Is he even in the U.S. anymore? Did those girls sue? I just don’t know.
(Cops eventually came, because they happened to drive by; they were useless. Didn’t get out of the cruiser, didn’t ask a single question. Like they couldn’t be bothered. I filled out a report myself at the station the next day, on their suggestion. I remember them specifically saying they didn't have to be there. I was out in the rain that night past 6am, soaked, freezing, before I was able to get home. I think my friends took a cab to Penn Station to catch a train, but that part I don’t remember clearly.)
When you rear-end someone in a car, it is 100% your fault as a driver. I’m reminded of this as I walk every day in NYC. I now work in a very congested area, Times Square, with all its tourists and street vendors and those people selling bus tickets to Woodbury Commons on every corner. When someone is walking in front of me, either looking up at the tall buildings or down at their phones—usually down at their phones--and then they abruptly stop and I crash right it to them, is that really my fault? It absolutely is not!
People need their own rearview mirrors. Or maybe just a better sense of their surroundings. They stop dead in their tracks and you crash right into them; what the heck do you say?! Oh, I’m so sorry! Well, no I’m not. It’s YOUR damn fault. YOU should be the one saying sorry to ME! Who the hell just STOPS WALKING on a busy NYC sidewalk? WTF?!
I know this is typical New York crap; we deal with it every day. But it’s gotten worse and worse and it’s really getting to me now. Either no one pays attention, or simply no one gives a shit about the other people around them. I’m starting to feel the latter weighs more prominently. Etiquette, respect … they’re gone.
That cab driver crashed into me; he could have injured me or my friends. And yet, 10 years later, I still think about that person and where he is today because of his one momentary lapse in concentration. Whatever happened to him? I’ll never know…
Do you think, next time some asshole just decides to stop walking in the middle of a crowded sidewalk and I walk right into him, I can just banish him (or her) to Pakistan? Cuz I’d love that. I really would. The punishment would fit the crime.
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