Five weeks ago, in Zurich, Switzerland,
At the end of my workday on a Friday, I was unsure about the best way to get to Geneva for a weekend event. Should I take the train or drive there? The trip is between three and four hours, and I love driving, but the weather is bad, and the rain is heavy. The train ticket would cost around 90 Swiss francs, so I decided to drive.
On the highway, the cars in front of me were splashing water in my face. I had to keep my distance or overtake them. The rain was heavy, and the roads were filled with water. While overtaking one of the cars with a speed between 105 and 110 km/h, I felt that I lost control of the car. It started drifting, my eyes opened wide, and I automatically raised my guards and observed the world. The car was drifting to the left, heading towards the side barrier of the highway, and all I could think was “it is happening.” I hit the side rail, and then the car spun around itself counter-clockwise while also drifting to the left, hitting the side barrier with every half-turn. I pressed the brakes without help, and after two full rounds, I pulled the handbrakes, which brought the car to a complete stop. At that moment, I was facing the oncoming cars, three lanes that came to a halt, and I took a few seconds to assess what had happened. I was uninjured, the car motor seemed to be still working, but I saw parts of the car on the highway. A car passed by and asked me if I was fine, and I nodded “yes.” A French truck driver had already stopped on the service lane, wore his reflective vest, and came to me, saying “Monsieur, Monsieur, ça va?” I told him I was okay. He told me something in French, which means “if the car works, move it to the side of the road,” which I did, and thanked him.
I called the police number and told them I had a car accident. They connected me to the responsible emergency number, and they asked me where I was, which number was on the nearest sign, and if anyone was injured. After that, I told them that there were some parts of the car on the highway that needed to be cleaned to avoid other accidents, and the woman responded, “yes, we see it on the camera!” That impressed me.
The friendly police arrived, they cleaned the highway, started the investigation, asked me some questions for the report, and started examining the car’s tires. They told me the tires were legally fine, but not good enough for that speed-weather combination. They gave me a QR-Code with which I could check the report online and use it for different public service offices. The policeman gave me advice on how to drive in such weather in the future. In the end, they called a towing service, which took me and the car to park in a garage.
Despite the accident, I decided to go to my event in Geneva because I didn’t want to dwell on the negative. During the train journey, I reflected on how much had changed in just one hour. Things could have changed even more significantly, but thankfully I am fine.
I remembered that life can be unpredictable and that it’s important to live life to the fullest. Money in the bank wouldn’t matter if I were to die, so I resolved to experience more, love more, and spend more.
I discussed this with my colleague Miranda and she said “Die With Zero” referring the book with this name. I also discovered that I was not afraid to die. Not that I am eager to discover the afterlife, but I am fine with what I have lived so far. Maybe now is a good time to ask you for your pardon, if I was ever mean to you, and if you continued reading until this line.
Moving forward, I plan to continue traveling, driving on the highway, and writing. Most importantly, I will do all of these things with a smile on my face 🙂
