18 DEC 04: PARKWAY CROSSING

I could have witnessed a violent collision this afternoon, but I closed my eyes and didn't. And no, it had nothing to do with the Steelers-Giants football game -- or running into crowds of shoppers at Peachtree Mall.

It happened at the intersection of Weems Road and Parkway Drive. It's not Veterans Parkway or Pepperell Parkway - it's named "Parkway." The people living on that street must like to keep things as simple as possible.

Parkway Drive ends at Weems Road, and across Weems there's a bread store. I was stopped eastbound on Weems, waiting to turn left into the bread store parking lot - and that makes me a weirdo right there. I was a patient driver....

As I waited for traffic to clear to turn left, a car on my right decided to cross Weems - from Parkway into the bread store parking lot. He did this as a big green SUV rolled westbound down the hill. I was waiting on that SUV. That other driver must have needed a loaf of bread really bad.

The driver of the white car on my right rolled across Weems VERY slowly - and the green SUV simply kept coming. That's what I closed my eyes. At moments like that, any car about to get hit looks like it has a tail as long as a 1959 Chevy.

There was no horn-honking, no screeching of brakes, no nothing - simply a thudding CRASH to my left. After it happened, I opened my eyes. My guess of a crash was correct. And my guess that neither vehicle would carom my way also was correct. Maybe I should have majored in engineering after all.

The green SUV sat in the westbound lane of Weems Road, not looking too damaged. The white car was smashed in the back - but at least its tire iron was still in one piece. It was smack-dab in the middle of the bread store parking lot, but it was there.

At least the wreck cleared enough room for me to turn left, into the bread store parking lot. I went inside to do my business, and told an employee I doubted either driver in the crash ever noticed the other. But then again, should I have honked MY horn to alert them? Or would they both have aimed their vehicles at me?

Heading back outside, Columbus police already were at the scene of the wreck. An officer arrived in less than three minutes! He must know a shortcut from Columbus Park Crossing traffic duty I've never found before.

The police officer took a statement from three people walking a dog. They passed the bread store parking lot just before the crash, and talked like they hurried away to prevent being hit. But they were on the other side of a fence! Maybe they expected the SUV to keep rolling downhill -- because many drivers act like they don't have brakes.

I walked over to the officer and offered to share what I saw, but he said he already had all the information he needed. I never said who I was - so how could he tell I was one of those journalists you're not supposed to trust with the facts?

At that moment I encountered the driver of the green SUV - wearing a University of Oklahoma cap. I resisted the urge to make a clever remark about Kansas. I wanted to drive on to church in one piece.

Now other notes from a comfortable December weekend -- well, so far it is:

+ A Saturday evening jog on the Riverwalk was my longest nonstop run in two years -- more than three miles! My ears were burning a bit as I slowed to a walk, but I really don't think a nine-minute pace was THAT fast.

+ On the course, I noticed something new at the north edge of the downtown Riverwalk. A display of lights extends onto what looks like an island in the Chattahoochee, next to the old Eagle and Phenix Mill. Now there's a clever way of making sure the river levels don't rise too high.

+ A couple of blocks down the course, I was distracted by a couple of people sliding down the big hill from Bay Avenue to the Riverwalk. They slid down on flattened giant cardboard boxes. Some people want snow flurries Sunday in the WORST way....

+ Meanwhile, back at church our Pastor spoke on "The Wrath of God." He spoke against evolution, the show "Desperate Housewives," the upcoming TV show "Medium," some kind of anti-herpes drug, the makers of Celebrex, the movie "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" -- and I think he was FOR something, too.

+ Instant Message to Brian Baldinger of Fox Sports: Thanks for confusing all the viewers today - telling them the Falcons game was TOMORROW night, instead of tonight. Maybe that's why you're on the fourth or fifth-string broadcast team.

(And another thing: what do you mean, Tommy Tuberville had a great year in "Opelika, Alabama?" Auburn is the city next door! The cities only act at times like they've merged.)

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