Accidents and Near Misses

[Xaagon]

I'm a firm believer in learning from others' mistakes so I don't have to make them myself. So here's a mistake that I made last night that maybe somebody else can learn from:

I was turning right at a red light, I checked for cross traffic and it was clear so I started to go. Suddenly bright lights and honking. I neglected to check traffic coming from the opposite direction turning left on a green arrow and I had cut in front of somebody. Fortunately they were able to stop in time and didn't hit me.

I think there were a few factors that led to this situation. It was at night, it was dark, I was kind of tired and very hungry (was bringing drive-through food home). I was driving a car that was unfamiliar to me, though I don't think that was as much of a factor in this case. Also, I had just gone through a construction zone where I was paying lots of attention and had mentally relaxed by the time I got to this intersection, the last stoplight before getting home.

So there is my confession. Hope it maybe helps somebody.

Anybody else have any stories of what you did or what someone did to you to cause an accident or near miss that we can learn from?

[Some newbie driver]

Too many more than I would had wanted to never happen; either my fault and others fault. I'm not going to enter into details, but at the end most accidents or near misses roots are the same: don't lose concentration in what you are doing. When one is mentally stressed, tired, troubled or any other not good condition, one should not drive. Period.

Stop on a safe place and rest o let somebody else drives or whatever other thing you could do. It's always better to arrive late than to not arrive at all.