Young drivers out and about yesterday

Yesterday I'm doing a few things. Getting water jugs filled, a few foodstuffs. I go to one store in town where they still have the water jug filling machine set at 25 cents and while I get out of the car, I see a girl in a billowy yellow dress and a boy get in a car. Oh, I guess the Spring Formal aka Prom (why is it called Prom?) is tonight. I file that away, fill my jugs and get on with things to do.

Some time later while at Aldi's as I go in, I hear rescue vehicles screaming in the distance, and by the sounds of things, they're going away from where I am. I get done with what I get there and leave, deciding to go right home.

It's a good thing I'm not quick on the accelerator, because as soon as the light turned green for me, I went to turn right out of the parking lot, and I barely managed to keep from getting hit by a black SUV from my left. The driver clearly was not paying attention to the red light he had - clearly red long enough for him to see it. I recall the driver was in the vehicle with someone else (which I managed to see in the split second the damn vehicle sped right in front of me - and there were witnesses), and was able to determine it was an underage driver at the wheel. I was so mad I fumbled around before managing to sound my horn. It must have shaken the other driver up because he did brake and slow down. I wasn't sure if he thought I was coming after him, and I really should have after seeing him pull into the used car lot a block down the road to let him know how close he came to having his insurance premium get more expensive or cancelled altogether and me getting a new car (among other problems).

Anyway, after a few minutes of going towards home, I come to the crossing of where two state routes meet, and the scene of a traffic accident. That's where the rescue vehicles were going.  I see a girl in a familiar yellow dress - just odd that a while before they were in town. I don't know who was at fault, but seeing another girl in the gathered group of onlookers in a purple dress, I guess a more than a few prom attendees' evening just got more complicated if not cancelled altogether. A gray car and a black SUV collided at the light at that intersection.

Makes me wonder how many other high school prom attendees were involved in collisions this weekend. I saw a stretch limo SUV earlier getting fuel. That's the way to do it - hire a limo and driver. I would think that's much safer even if it costs some money to rent one.