Turning the Other Cheek—Automotive Edition

Turning the Other Cheek—Automotive Edition March 12, 2012

Alternately titled:  How Would Jesus Drive?

Perhaps you saw the story breaking in Crystal River, Florida, where 22-year-old resident Kristyn Dominy just earned my respect for her kindness in the face of adversity.

Kristyn was driving along, apparently within the legal speed limit, when another woman sped past and showed Kristyn one of her fingers. Now I’m not gonna say which one—but it wasn’t her pointer, or her pinky, or her ring finger.  And it wasn’t her thumb.

Yep, that woman frowned a bit, held that finger up in the air so Kristyn could see it real good, and hit the gas.

Now wouldn’t you expect a driver who’s swerving down the highway in a Jeep, pointing at other drivers like that, to be really in control, really good on the curves?  Wouldn’t you?  Not so:  Just a short time later, Kristyn came upon the other car—in flames, stuck in some trees just off the road.

Here’s where I come to realize that Kristyn is only human: At first, she admitted, she thought it was “karma,” thought that perhaps it served that rude driver right.   “But at the same time,” Kristyn told the Tampa Bay Times, “I could never—even though she flipped me off down the road—I could never just sit there and watch that happen.”

Kristyn Dominy and her child

The woman from the other car was already on fire herself, but she was struggling to get her little daughter, who was also burning, out of the car.  Kristyn pulled over and ran to the burning vehicle, risking her own life to save the other driver and her child, who was entangled in her seatbelt.  Once the mother and child were a safe distance from the car, Kristyn called 911.

Both the rude driver and her child were transported to Tampa General Hospital, where the child remains in serious condition.  Kristyn, a contemporary Good Samaritan, says that she knows she did the right thing.  At this point, the other driver—herself suffering burns but in good condition—has not spoken.

A simple apology might be in order.


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