This morning, on my way to work on a secluded road, I almost hit someone.
This small road is out of the way and there are few cars. Although there are few cars, the road conditions are good, with three lanes on each side and a flower bed separating the two sides.
I often drive on this road and know the intervals of the traffic lights very clearly. They gradually turn green in the direction of my commute, so if I have good luck, I can go all the way without waiting for the red light. After I turned onto this road, I waited for the red light, then every time I was a few hundred meters away from the next traffic light, I would see it turn green, so I drove pretty fast, about 50 to 60 kilometers per hour.
There was a pedestrian crossing with traffic lights. When I was more than 200 meters away from it, the signal light turned green, so I didn't slow down and continued driving forward. Since I was going to make a left turn soon, I was in the left lane. There were no cars far ahead, and there were some cars far behind. Just as I was about to reach the pedestrian crossing, suddenly an electric bike rider rushed out from the flower bed. I immediately slammed on the brakes, stopping just as he entered the second lane and had just left the first lane. If he had been any slower, he might have ended up under my wheels. If my car had been any faster, I might not have been able to stop in time and hit him. The sudden braking caused the bag on the passenger seat to fall to the ground, indicating that I braked quite hard.
Although no accident occurred, my heart rate increased, and I felt tense and extremely angry. As I continued driving, I deliberately looked at him several times to express my dissatisfaction through eye contact. I noticed that he was also looking at me, and I don’t know what he was thinking.
If an accident had happened on the pedestrian crossing, I might have had to bear some responsibility, even though it was he who ran the red light. But my car has insurance, so even if an accident had occurred, he would have only received some medical expenses from the insurance company. In case of unfortunate death, he would have received some compensation from the insurance company. However, life is priceless. Is it worth risking your life to save a few minutes waiting for the red light? Or enduring short-term pain that can be cured, or long-term pain that cannot be cured? Is it really worth it?