Was that cell-phone call really worth a child’s life?

Never saw me, did you?

I saw you, though.

Small, newer model car. German made. Four-door version. Tan or light brown paint job. Nice looking ride. Expensive, I’d bet.

We were southbound on I-5 and had just passed Alderwood Mall.

No speeding involved. I was doing, maybe, 62. You must have been just under the speed limit.

You were in the right lane. I was behind you in the center lane. An eighteen-wheeler was coming up on my left.

More on him later.

The reason I could see you so well was that I was in my pickup. It sits high. Dodge Ram. Blue with gray trim. Kind of hard to miss.

You did, though. You never saw me.

As I came up on you, I was checking my driver’s side mirror to find out where that eighteen-wheeler behind me had disappeared to.

Now that was a big truck. One of those droop-nosed Kenworth models. Lots of chrome and steel plus a whole bunch of speed and momentum and weight.

When I found him, he’d moved into the left lane and was coming up to pass me.

That’s when I looked back and saw you do something incredibly stupid. And doing it caused you to drift into my lane.

Ever watch NASCAR racing? Ever see what happens when one car "taps" the right or left rear fender of the car in front of it? That’s when physics and the basic laws of motion take over.

The bad news is that the rear end of the "tapped" car is displaced and the driver of that car loses directional control.

The bad news gets worse. All of the speed and energy in that now out-of-control car takes it places the driver never wants it to go.

In NASCAR, that’s usually into a wall. Racecars, however, have steel roll-cages and 5-point harnesses to protect the driver. I noticed none of those in your car.

To return to our situation, what was about to happen was that the left rear fender of your car was about to hit the right front bumper of my truck. This, as noted, would’ve resulted in a "tap" and likely caused you to spin out.

I couldn’t go left because that eighteen-wheeler was almost on me. I couldn’t go right because that’s where you were.

So I got on the brakes.

You never saw that, either.

By the way, that cell phone you were holding against your left ear was one of those new ones, wasn’t it? The kind that sends pictures.

The conversation must’ve been great, too. As I came up on you, I’d noticed you were laughing and taking your right hand off the wheel every now and then to make a point about something or other.

Then — just when I was about even with your rear fender — you did it. You took the phone from your ear to look at whatever picture was being sent.

At 60 miles per hour.

On the Interstate.

And you slid into my lane.

Which was when I slowed down and pulled in behind the eighteen-wheeler.

Because I wanted nothing more to do with you.

And you never knew how close a thing it was.

I hope that phone call was important. That it was news you’d been waiting all your life to hear.

Because it could have been the last thing you ever heard.

Because, after I’d have spun you out, your car would’ve ended up in front of an eighteen-wheeler that was now just about to pass me.

And you’d have been broadside to it at the point of impact.

Ever seen a Kenworth from that point of view?

Me neither.

But you almost did.

If you had, I’d have told the investigating trooper that you were merrily gabbing away on a cell phone instead of paying attention to driving your car.

If you had, I’d have told the truck driver there was absolutely nothing he could’ve done because, at the time of the accident, your mind and your eyes were certainly not on the road or what was around you.

Do you believe in guardian angels?

If not, you should.

Oh, and just one last thing.

The kid in the car seat.

Couldn’t have been more than a year old, right?

The New England Journal of Medicine published a study in February of 1997 showing that cell phone users were four times more likely to be involved in accidents than non-cell phone users. The accident frequency was the same as if cell phone users were driving while meeting the legal definition of being drunk. Researchers also found there was "no safety advantage to hands-free as compared with hand-held telephones."

Larry Simoneaux is a freelance writer living in Edmonds. Comments can be sent to: larrysim@att.net.