I have been feeling awful for about three days because I made a stupid mistake while driving a few days ago. I was at a stop sign and a car was coming towards me on the other side of the road. Sometimes the cars like that car that are coming towards me have to move over to the lane that I was about to continue in to get on a different road. I looked at the car for 2 seconds and the car didn’t have their left turn signal on and I made a bad decision to go. I went when the car was maybe 1-2 seconds from me. I feel horrible cause if the car moved over to the other lane when i went I could’ve got in a head on collision or the other car could’ve hit my side. I feel so stupid for going, I went cause his signal wasn’t on and because he wasn’t switching over to the lane yet but if he was I could’ve caused a bad accident. I don’t know why I didn’t just wait I feel so bad. I haven’t really thought about anything else since it happened. I could’ve seriously injured that driver or maybe even something worse could’ve happened. I just feel like a complete idiot.
Even the best drivers make stupid mistakes sometimes. Fortunately, it usually takes two stupid mistakes at the same time to cause an accident. Feeling bad for a while programs the brain to never make that mistake again. After that programming is in place, feeling bad serves no purpose. Therefore, as long as you know you won’t make that mistake again, you have my permission to stop feeling bad. 
just can’t stop thinking about what could’ve happened. Idk if it was really possible for him to mess up there if he was gonna turn into my lane tho. When I went he wasn’t going yet so maybe he would’ve saw me anyways.
Hey @Hockter24,
You’re not an idiot. Mistakes like that can happen to anyone, really. It’s good that you are aware that maybe you’ve made a decision too quickly and that if it happens again you’d rather wait just in case. Unfortunately, drivers don’t always use their signals or use them in a wrong way. A good thing to double check in these situations is not only to look at their light signals but also at the front wheels of the car. It’s yet another indicator of the direction that a driver is taking. Checking that has helped me quite a few times when people didn’t use their left/right signal at different crossroads and insisted on taking the priority.
All in all, you can learn from this situation and make sure it only makes you more careful. Something unfortunate would be to overstress what happened and be too anxious about it. Fearing an accident is what led me personally to have driving anxiety and now I don’t drive at all anymore, which is not something I want for you. The more you’re afraid of the “what if”, the more you’re actually likely to provoke an accident because you would overthink situations that need quick responses. Learn from what happened, but don’t let it consume you. It has to be something that help you build your confidence and security, not the opposite. 
hi there,
You have spent a lot of time thinking over it and replaying it in your mind’s eye.
That means you’ve probably extracted a lot of lessons from the event. You can try thinking about it in a more positive way - you now know what to NOT do, and by knowing this, it can now become part of the almost automatic bag of knowledge all good drivers have, in how to instinctively react in a situation. You learnt a really good lesson, and the nest time you’re going that way again, you can be sure that this experience will make you an even better driver when that time comes!
Thank you I really appreciate your message
Thank you I just can’t stop thinking about what could’ve happened but even if he was going into my lane he might’ve still saw me.
yup, but things turned out well this time. Use all the energy and direct it to remembering this as a trick/skill next time! Glad you and the other driver are both safe and unharmed.
Hoping that you can find a way to feel a bit better about it - you deserve to be at peace. No harm was done, and you and the other driver both learnt how to navigate that intersection a bit better and more mindfully
All the best!
I’m already feeling better after making this posts. Who knows what would’ve happened if he wanted to go so many things could’ve happened.
glad to hear this.
Hoping you can give yourself the permission to learn and move on. So many things can always happen, we just have to make the best decisions we can when we’re in a situation.
Nothing did. Everyone is safe and secure. No harm was caused. It’s okay to make a mistake. You have certainly learnt from it. Learning from it is a great aand important step. Hope you can find the peace to stop replaying it in your mind 
From: ᏒᎧᏕᎥᏋ (Discord)
Hi @Hockter24 Sometimes things get a hairy on the roads, but it sounds like you handled yourself. Be proud of that. I’m in my 50s and I’ve been in a few “almost’s” and “oh shit’s” it’s scary. When you find yourself stuck thinking about it, try to distract yourself. Go outside and listen to the sounds, play some music, play a video game, read, do a project, talk to a friend. Just something that doesn’t have anything to do with you’re thinking about. Everything is ok 
~Mystrose
From: eloquentpetrichor (Discord)
Hello, friend! I don’t think you’re an idiot. Those "what if"s will sometimes haunt people every day. We worry about something happening that didn’t even come close to reality but the thought of its potential sticks around like one of those sticker plants that just keeps reattaching to your clothes. It sounds like if an accident had occurred that it wouldn’t have been your fault as it sounds like you did everything correctly but I know that might not help you feel better about it. Just try to remember that all we can do while driving is be safe and trust that other drivers are trying to be safe as well. If you sit at stop signs waiting for everyone else to do everything they want to do then you may be there forever and annoy other drivers who have to wait as well. All we can do is our best. I’ve been in plenty of almost accidents and all we can do is learn from things we thing we or the other person did wrong and hope it will help us in the future. I hope you manage to put this “what if” in your rearview mirror and find peace of mind in what happened.
From: Lisalovesfeathers (Discord)
Hey Friend, Thank you for your post. Firstly can I say how pleased I am that nothiing bad actually happened to you or anyone else. That is a good thing. It can be very scarey when things “almost” happen and yes it can play on your mind so maybe you can turn this into something more postive and just see it as a learning experience, after all, you will never do that again will you? I would love you to now stop worrying so much. Nothing happened and all is ok, tbe grateful and all is well. take care. Much Love Lisa.
Thank you I just feel stupid for trusting his signal cause he could’ve moved over but when I went he was still driving straight so he may have saw me even if he wanted to move over into my lane. Overall I definitely feel better now tho about things.
This topic was automatically closed after 365 days. New replies are no longer allowed.