Crunch

A few short months ago, I wrote this post dedicated to major things I had or hadn't done by my 25th birthday.  One little bullet point indicated my gratitude for never having been in a car accident.  And up until Friday, that was still true.

Alas, Friday my 25 year accident-free streak ended.  First, I witnessed a nasty car accident, resulting in my passenger racing out of my vehicle to go save a man trapped upside down in his flipped car and me desperately calling 911.  We were the first ones to arrive on the scene.

I walked away from that experience both traumatized and incredibly grateful that it wasn't me.

Not 40 minutes later, I found myself crunched behind a trailer.  The trailer I had just rear ended.  The trailer that was attached to a truck, whose driver had slammed on his brakes in order to allow some bikers to cross the road.  And I sat there in my car and wondered, who was running to help me?  By the time I finally mustered enough sense to open my door and get out of my vehicle, all I could verbalize to the man who approached me was, "I have no idea what I'm supposed to do.  Do I call my dad, or my insurance?"

Instead I dialed my sister to inform her she needed to call in late for work, since I would not be able to babysit as planned.

I know it sounds cliche, but it all happened so fast.  I wasn't texting.  I wasn't fiddling with my radio.  I even had both hands on the steering wheel.  And yet somehow I missed the fact that he was braking until it was too late.  It might have been because he didn't have tail lights hooked up to his trailer.  It might also have been because I was still preoccupied by thoughts of the horrible accident I had just driver away from.  Whatever the case, this was the result:


 

My car is most likely totaled.  I won't know for sure until later this week. 

Blessedly, no one else was injured.  My few bumps and batters will heal.  My air bag did not deploy, and I still have an intact nose to thank for that.  My sister came to my rescue, my insurance is paying for a rental car, and while that rental car is a gas-hogging-soccer-mom-mobile, it's also big and safe.

Thank God for that.

Comments

Carol J. Brown said…
Natalie, I am so glad you are SAFE!
Sorry that you've joined the rest of us -- who haven't been in the "never had an accident" club for quite some time.

Love you,
Aunt Carol