A couple of my blog buddies have posted about some of their phobias. Cindy has an interesting kite phobia, as well as many other phobias. Kerry has arachnophobia.
For the most part, i don’t think i am afraid of any of these things. I don’t particularly like spiders, or mice, and would prefer that Lance handle those unpleasantries when necessary. But they don’t paralyze me, and i could deal with them if i had to.
What i am kind of afraid of, though, is bridges. Big bridges over large bodies of water.
Driving over a bridge makes me very nervous. I was reminded of this when driving to and from the Outer Banks earlier this month. Both hands must be on the wheel – there is no casual one-handed steering on a bridge. My hands grip the wheel tightly. I repeat to myself in my head “I will not drive off the bridge.” And i have to resist the urge to roll down the windows. See, i am afraid i will drive off the bridge and into the water. Of course i will survive that, but my power windows will not work once in the water, and i will be unable to get out. And i will drown.
Someone recently told me about the LifeHammer (or similar) tool, a tool that is made specifically for this situation! It’s supposed to be able to cut you out of your seat belt and break your window. Perfect! I didn’t know they made such a tool, and it’s now on my list.
I also really really don’t like the underwater tunnels. Normal tunnels, under mountains instead of water, don’t bother me much. An accident in a mountain tunnel seems less likely to cause the tunnel to collapse. I also think you have a higher chance of surviving a cave-in if it occurred in a normal tunnel. You’d be partially protected by your car, and could possibly survive until the rescuers dug you out. But if an underwater tunnel collapses, i think you’re just fucked.
September 17th, 2008 9:21 am
I don’t think that I have a phobia about bridges, but I do get very nervous about them in some situations. I don’t particularly like the idea of my car plummeting to a watery grave, but I always think that I would have a chance for survival. I hadn’t thought about the windows. I think I better start putting my windows down before getting onto the bridge. Good idea.
I think that I’m more nervous about large bridges when they are not over water. I figure if they collapse, then I’m toast. And we all know that bridges collapse! I’ve seen it on the news!
The situation that makes me the most nervous is when I have to stop in the middle of a bridge, especially when I’m over another road. I hate feeling the motion of the bridge every time a car passes, yikes! Usually this is due to heavy traffic, so all that weight on the bridge makes me even more concerned. I am intently focused on willing the light to change or the cars to MOVE or the tugboat to hurry the heck up past the drawbridge.
Drawbridges bring me to my second most anxiety inducing situation. This issue isn’t specific to drawbridges, but it is most common with them. I hate driving over bridges with the metal grates or similar construction. If it’s raining, then I’m truly a basketcase! I don’t like how the grooves lessen the control that I have over my car. I feel like the surface is slick and the bridge has control over where my car is going to go.
Oh, and thanks for introducing some new fears. Tunnels never really concerned me before I read this post, but now I see that I have reason to be concerned. Thanks for the public safety announcement!
My other weird phobia is doorknobs. Apparently, I’m not alone when it comes to that one…thank you internets!
September 17th, 2008 10:40 am
I have a bit of that fright in me. It’s not all bridges, but there’s that one fancy bridge on I-495? to D.C. that takes my breath away — not in a good way. I have to scoot my car to the middle, and stare dead straight ahead. I don’t have this when I ride as much as I drive.
I do have that little tool, BTW. And it’s not just bridges to be concerned about. I used to drive 264/or 64 in Eastern NC and it’s two lanes all the way with ditches on the side. I think this is similar in areas full of wetlands. It’s easy to run off the road and land in the ditch and sink…I recall hearing about the lifehammer-like thing years ago, in these types of situations…which are a bit more common than driving off a bridge.
September 22nd, 2008 12:18 pm
I just saw this article on cnn: http://www.cnn.com/2008/TRAVEL/09/22/bridge.fear.ap/index.html