Two weeks ago the Lass and I were walking home from camp. We were crossing, with the light, in a crosswalk when we were nearly hit.

When I say nearly, I do not mean that the car stopped a foot or even a few feet away. I am saying that I pushed the Lass out of the way and hit the hood of the car with my hand as I moved out of the way.

I am not sure what happened exactly. The woman was turning right from an access road onto the street we were crossing. She was probably watching for cars turning right off the main highway rather than looking to the right and in front. We crossed four lanes of traffic before coming to the outside lane - the one she was turning into. She never looked.

We survived. We were both a bit freaked out, but everything is okay.

This morning... once again... we were out on the road.

This time we were crossing a road in the financial hub of the area. Again, with the light and in the cross walk. The car turning right was stopped, allowing us to cross.

A car swung around that car and attempted to turn right into the inside lane from the inside lane - turning into us as we crossed the street.

he stopped within a foot or so of hitting us.

I glared at him with my best Italian street crossing stare through my fabulous Italian shades. (they give me such attitude don't ya know!)

The Lass said "That must of been the husband of the woman that tried to hit us before!"

I laughed. She defused the situation a little.

On 1 July Virginia passed laws determining that VA residents would receive huge additional fines for bad driving. We are talking over a thousand dollars on top of the normal ticket.

I don't think that this has phased the average driver if today's situation was any indication.

The law is controversial as it does not levy the same fine against non-Virginia drivers. The House of Delegates is considering drafting legislation to remove it from the books.

I think that the law should stand and that it would benefit everyone if it were enforced.