When I had a close brush with death

The writer's vehicle after surviving the incident

Last week as I drove to Kakiri, south west of Kampala in Wakiso District, I was confronted with a situation that demanded decisive action.
For the first time in my driving experience, I felt trapped, having to choose between a head-on collision or smash the car into a trench or anything that could give me a second chance to life.
As I approached a bend towards Nkowe on Hoima Road, a speeding lorry cut into my lane as it attempted to overtake a truck carrying charcoal.
My heart skipped out of shock for the moment forcing me to swerve off the narrow road into a deep water trench that left my car terribly damaged.
All this happened so fast – it must have been about or less than 30 seconds - but it left me profusely sweating as I crawled out of the car to safety.
A crowd of sorts, much of which looked suspicious, had started to form attempting to “help” me yet others seemed to scan the area for anything to steal.
It was a close call and one that brushed with death. Luckily, I came out unhurt but it is one experience that will live with me for decades.
What saved me is my decisive action and perhaps the low speed at which I was driving.
I had been driving at 60 kilometres per hour, which afforded me an opportunity to think through a quick decision.
The vast majority of car accidents involve human error or indecisiveness and here I was in a state that demanded quick and decisive action.
Head on collisions are quite terrifying. They happen so fast and leave damage with a lot of fatalities.
In such circumstances it is difficult to tell who is in the wrong even as eyewitnesses will try to weave a speculated narrative to tell a story.
Telling who is in the wrong during an accident is the reserve of the police that conducts a scientific analysis before any conclusions.
Of course I was never in the wrong. I had stayed in my lane and was driving at a speed lower than the prescribed 80 kilometres per hour.
But I took the decision to swerve off the road to avoid a head-on collision that could have left much havoc. Therefore as a driver be ready to take decisive action every time you need to.