On a recent after-work drive from Tucson to the Phoenix metro area, Jon and I were engaged in what I'm sure was yet another witty repartee when suddenly, out of the corner of my eye, I saw a huge cloud of dust accompanied by a speeding object coming straight across the median toward us (from the left). We were the only vehicle on our side of the freeway, and we were traveling at about 80 mph, since the speed limit is 75 mph on that stretch. I braked uber-hard for several seconds just in time to clearly identify the object barreling in front of us as a truck followed by about 4 police cars 5 feet off its bumper. After darting clean across the freeway in front of us and ending up on the freeway's other (right) side, the truck rolled onto its passenger side about 20 to 30 feet away from us.
Within a second, several cops leaped out of their cars and ran to the side-resting truck, which showed no signs of life except for shadows we could see in the cabin's windows. Then a couple of cops suddenly and assertively pointed guns toward the truck's cabin. We had an absolute front-row seat to the drama, which didn't end there. Then a couple more cops started beating in the truck cabin's back window, but either they weren't very strong or didn't want to be sued for that much damage or who knows ... They gave it several decisive thumps and marred but didn't break the glass. (Where's the nonbulletproof glass when you need it?)
Jon and I quickly locked our vehicle's doors in case someone escaped from the truck and tried to jump into our vehicle. But luckily, after a few minutes - 3 to 5 maybe - the police were able to start pulling the passengers out of the truck. Then the cop controlling traffic (we weren't alone on our stretch of road by then) bid us adieu and we went on our way.
It took me several minutes to climb down from the proverbial ceiling afterwards as we drove on to Phoenix. It's one thing to see high-speed chases on TV or to see people pulling guns in the movies, but it's another to see it in real life only about 20 or 30 feet away, with real lives at stake. And if I hadn't seen the criminals' truck when I did nor braked super hard, they would have T-boned us pretty hard: Just a couple seconds more would have yielded a different destiny for our vehicle. This sobering experience gave me a wakeup call as to what cops actually do all day – and, much more importantly, also made me SO grateful for the power of those daily safety prayers. I can attest to the fact that such prayers really work!
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