Jt: Fill & Download for Free

As a native of Michigan, I’ve spent vacation time in Canada. Like most African Americans I know, we love to visit our northern neighbors. The vibe is so free and friendly. The first time I visited Toronto, I came home and wrote an essay about it. I was able to experience life and spend my money without being constantly reminded that I am a black woman. It happened so smoothly that it wasn’t noticed until we’d been there a few days and got lost. After stopping a car and asking for directions, my husband and I looked at each other and laughed. We both realized we had stopped a police officer for directions. I’ve worked in criminal justice and, at that time, two of my brothers were Michigan police officers, but we would never have engaged a cop in the US for directions or anything else. We know to leave them alone in the hope that they will leave us alone.That’s just one example. We weren’t followed around in stores, food servers were friendly—people smiled at my children just as I tend to smile at theirs! These little things make that knot disappear that’s in my belly at the end of most days. I hope Canada never links with my country—unless we can become like them, but I would not expect that to happen.

During my senior year in college I was on my way home from work during finals week. I was on the highway, going about 50mph, and passing the exit ramp just before the one I was getting off on. Traffic on the ramp was at a stop, as it was the main exit to the university.A lady in a white SUV that was at a stop on that ramp decided she wanted back onto the highway which, again, was moving about 50 mph compared to her dead-stop. Without signaling, she pulled directly in front of me on the highway when I was about 15 yards away. I hit the rear of her car (the driver half, as she didn’t even get totally in front of me before I hit her) at 50mph minus whatever I slowed down in the split second I hit the brakes. It sent her vehicle off the road and into a construction area that was in the grassy triangle area between the ramp and the highway.I drove my truck off the side of the road, and a guy in a truck also in the line for the off ramp followed to make sure everyone was okay. After checking on them and me, he left me his card and said he saw what she did in case he needed to give a statement.I got out of my car and went to hers to make sure she was okay … she and her three-year-old in the back seat. Both okay, thankfully. Her car was likely totaled, as I was driving an SUV (GMC Yukon) with a brush guard on the front. She proceeded to tell me how she’s so sorry and how she did not see my truck before turning out and she’s glad that everyone’s okay. She thought she could just go down to the next exit instead of sitting in traffic and didn’t see my truck coming, otherwise she would have waited.Police showed up about 15 minutes later, went to talk to her first to ensure she's okay, then came back to me and told me “since you rear-ended her, I’m going to have to write you a ticket and this accident is at fault for you”. So I explained that another driver saw the incident and left his card. The cop took the card, called the guy, and I assume got his story matching to mine as well as running her driving record. The cop came back from his car and approached her vehicle again and said “ma'am, I’ve just spoken to the witness who said you pulled out in front of him with no signal. I’ve checked your driving record and you have two other citations for failure to signal in the last six months. This accident will be your fault, but I won’t write you a ticket since I didn’t witness it myself”.The lady began SCREAMING at the officer about how “absurd” this is because “he hit me, why don’t you do your f****** job?! He’s ruined my car, he could have killed us!”…a very different story from before, when she was sorry because she didn’t see me…The cop very politely told her to calm down, or she’d be leaving in the back of his patrol car. He came back to me, apologized, and asked if I could drive or if I needed a wrecker to come.Long story short: she’s sorry and apologizes for pulling in front of me, then tells the cop I’m some reckless driving maniac that nearly killed her…Thank God for the other driver who left his business card. If that man ever reads this, you saved me from a lot of money in repairs, raised premiums, and traffic tickets. So thank you. And for everyone else, if you see an accident, please offer a card or phone number to be a witness to police if needed…you never know how much help that can be.

I do.It takes me 3-5 minutes to stop my truck, another 3-5 to do a 7 point brake inspection, and then a walk around my truck, feeling each wheel, to make sure none of them are excessively hot. And another 3-5 to get back onto the road and up to speed.I drive an average of 600 miles every day, and a lot of things can change in 600 miles, so despite my pre-trip and post-trip inspections, I take that 10-15 minutes to ensure that nothing has changed since I started my day.There may be those who accuse me of being too safe, but I figure 15 minutes is a small price to pay to avoid an accident.Newer equipment and more attention to safety in recent years have reduced the number of brake failures and runaway trucks we see each year, but complacency still leads to a few, many of which could have been prevented by stopping and doing a quick check at the brake check area. I do my best to make sure I’m not one of them.