Crash Doesn’t Deter Slug

Slug Tales 

By LAURA CIRILLO

I’d like to think that I’m not risking my life every time I slug back and forth to work.

But the more I think about it, I suppose that’s exactly what I’m doing.

Growing up, didn’t our parents always tell us not to get into cars with strangers? And yet we do it every day. We trust these strangers to drive us from Point A to Point B without getting into an accident. We trust them to pay attention to the road, to drive defensively, to arrive safely. We get into the car and we hope for the best.

I guess anytime we get on the road, whether we’re riding or driving, we take the risk of getting into an accident. Even the buses, with drivers who are specially trained and licensed, could be hit by another vehicle. It’s a scary thought!

This is and has always been a reality, of course, but it is one that I was reminded of last week. While riding into work one morning, we hit very heavy traffic on the High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lanes near the exit for Edsall Road. It was unusual for traffic to get backed up in this area, so I immediately began to wonder what was going on.

Whipping out my cell phone, I checked my Twitter (@SlugTales) feed for any news on what could have caused the delay. As I scrolled through the page, the driver’s cell phone began to ring. She answered the call, and complained to her mother about the commute.

“Ugh, this construction is really messing up the road!” she said.

Just then, we approached the real problem – a bad accident, completely blocking the left lane. It looked as though one car had rear-ended the other, but was difficult to tell since they were surrounded by emergency vehicles. The occupants of both cars appeared to be alright, despite being startled and probably late to work. At least no one seemed to be badly hurt.

“That is my worst fear!” exclaimed the passenger in the front seat. ” I’m terrified of getting into an accident on HOV, especially when I’m driving!”

The driver, quickly ending the call with her mother, agreed. “Hope they’re all okay,” she replied.

For some reason, that sight stayed on my mind for most of the day. It’s not as if I’d never seen an accident before, but I couldn’t seem to shake the thought of something like that happening to me. What if…

No, I can’t worry about things like that, I told myself. Then, while waiting my turn in the slug line that afternoon, I overheard a conversation going on between two people behind me.

“… And it took me a while to start slugging again after that. My wife was so worried about me getting into another accident!”

The woman listening to the story shook her head. “I’ve been slugging for 11 years and thank goodness that’s never happened to me. I can’t believe that happened to you the first time! What terrible luck.”

They continued talking about all the different ways to commute, and he explained how he’d pretty much tried it all. He used to drive in every day, until that got too expensive. He stopped taking the Metro when his friend told him about the train. He stopped taking the Virginia Railway Express when he stopped receiving transit benefits, as he could no longer afford it. He started slugging again when his coworker convinced him to give it another try.

“I’m glad she changed my mind,” he admitted. “I’ve been slugging for years now and have never had any other problems, really.”

Well, I was glad to hear that. In the few years that I’ve been slugging, I’ve never been in an accident either. Fingers crossed, my good luck will continue.

In the meantime, I’ll be sure to buckle up and hope that everyone out there will be careful on the road. Drive safely, slugs! Our lives all depend on it.