ZIPPING around Shepparton at a frantic pace is, unsurprisingly, a typical part of a busy journalist’s daily routine. Whether it’s rushing to meet a client for an interview or heading back to the office to write an engaging article before an ever-looming deadline, I always prioritise safety while driving.
Imagine my absolute horror, then, when last Wednesday, driving back to the office, I found myself in a situation that literally had me seeing my life flash before my eyes!
I was heading along Andrew Fairley Avenue just as the after-school traffic from Shepparton Secondary College and Notre Dame converged at the roundabout that divides Knight and Hawdon Streets from Railway Parade. As I crossed the railway line, the car in front stopped to give way at the roundabout.
Stuck on the railway line, with another car behind me, I briefly thought how awful it would be if a train were suddenly to come along, especially with all the traffic backed up along Hawdon Street. I was completely blocked in at the roundabout, and there was no way for me to move.
Just as this thought left a cold feeling in my stomach, the level crossing signals began to flash and the sound of the alarm started ringing as the boom gates lowered…
In what felt like an eternity, though it was probably only seconds, I looked to my left, and sure enough, I saw a train in the distance. Unable to catch my breath, I hit the horn twice in a frantic motion, which was completely uncharacteristic of my usual cool, calm, and collected self. I wanted to draw attention to the car in front that was locking me in.
But despair hit as I noticed the car in front was itself jammed by traffic backed up on the right-hand side of the roundabout. I thought, “My goodness, is this the end?”
Just as sheer terror began to freeze all logical thought, a gentleman, possibly a tradie on his way to a job, calmly gestured for me to move ever so slightly forward.
More stunned than a mullet, I gently eased forward to fill the miniscule gap between me and that stubborn car in front of me, who seemed to prefer my imminent, spectacular demise to breaking a road rule in slow-moving traffic.
And just as I nudged forward, the car in front moved to navigate the roundabout.
Hallelujah! This devoted wife and mother of two was saved and will never, ever attempt to cross train tracks again without a clear passage to advance on the other side.
