They say your life is supposed to flash before your eyes when you have a near death experience. Mine didn’t. Instead, during the couple of seconds I thought would be my last, my only thoughts were focused on survival. Let me back track--- I was driving home after my Portuguese class on a Tuesday afternoon at Duke University. A block away from my apartment, I stopped at an intersection. This intersection is unlike most, involving two roads with multiple car lanes and a train track. I was at the stoplight, waiting for a green light, when the train track signaled and lights suddenly indicated that a train was approaching. I happened to be in-between the gates that block the railroad tracks when a train went by, and in the blink of an eye, these bars had come down and trapped me. I was too scared to move forward and cross the railroad tracks because I did not know when the train would pass. I decided that the safest thing to do would be to reverse through the gate behind me. I started reversing and suddenly a car drove up behind me and blocked my path. My next thought was to turn my car sideways, thinking it would create more space for the train to pass by without hitting my car. I turned the car and was parallel with the tracks and the gate. The train was getting louder and louder, and I was about to open the door and jump out of my car when it came by… I shut my eyes and before I knew it, it was gone. The gates opened up and traffic started driving towards me. Had that really just occurred to me? It felt like a dream- or actually, like a nightmare.
The feelings of anxiety that I now associate with intersections flooded back to me as we approached Tony Turner’s ghost bike. Trying to turn against the heavy flow of traffic was near impossible, and leaving Chateau Road to turn onto Roxboro Road to go home led to another moment of apprehension. I could not imagine being Tony Turner and not having the physical protection of a car as vehicles whizzed past, traveling at least 15 miles faster than the 45 mph speed limit. Intersections are supposed to be safe spaces that regulate traffic, and yet the signs, signals, and lights are not always enough to ensure everyone’s safety. I cannot pass through chaotic intersections without thinking about my own experience. Similarly, I cannot bike through an intersection without thinking of Tony Turner and wondering, “did his life flash before his eyes?”