Bob_the_builderI run through the UNC campus on Saturday mornings. There are two benefits.

1. Empty streets.
2. Whenever someone is out, you are guaranteed good people-watching opportunities!

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve assumed that the campus was empty, run across the street, and nearly been knocked over by someone who is turning right on red and isn’t paying attention while driving.

Forget mobile phones and devices. Put down your goddamn Bojangles breakfast sandwich and get your greasy fingers back on the steering wheel where they belong!

Running has made me more paranoid of hitting pedestrians, that’s for sure. I almost didn’t write this post because I don’t want to jinx myself, but I work hard to minimize my distractions while driving. I’ll drink coffee, of course, but I don’t eat a calzone and wash it down with a giant 2 liter bottle of Diet Coke while driving 55 mph.

(That’s how we roll in my family, by the way.)

Accidents happen. Distractions come in all shapes and sizes. But I’m not taking chances when I run alone, which is why I’m often wearing my Bob-the-Builder yellow safety vest and a blinking light on my blinding white baseball hat.

I’m little, but you can’t miss me.

Don’t hit me.