Mark and I were driving to his parent's place for dinner. We were in the express lane on I-15, going probably around 60mph, when we hit some slush or ice and lost control of the car. We spun out across two lanes of traffic, and came to a stop when another vehicle t-boned us on the passenger's side.
I was entirely calm until impact was about to happen, and then I'm pretty sure I screamed. I just remember looking out the passenger window at the car coming toward us and thinking, "Oh dear lord, that car is going kill me."
And then it didn't. I opened my eyes and I was 100% fine. Mark was fine. The lady in the other car and her two kids were fine. She'd seen the slush from our car and had been able to slow down enough so that she was only going 30-40mph when she hit us.
But we were blocking two lanes of traffic in the middle of I-15 and I was terrified that somebody wasn't going to be able to stop in time and that they would hit us again.
Then a police officer came out of nowhere. He was off-duty, just happened to be on his way home, but was in his cruiser. That police officer and the driver of a large tow truck that had also stopped were able to stop the traffic on the freeway for long enough for us to safely get the cars off the road.
Both cars were driveable, so we went to the nearest gas station where we waited for a couple hours until a police officer could make it.
The passenger side of Mark's car is pretty bashed in. The airbags went off in the other lady's car so her windshield was destroyed. But everybody was okay.
I couldn't stop shaking for the first ten minutes after the car crash, and all I could think about was how lucky or how blessed we had been. I've done a lot of crazy things, but I've never felt that close to dying before.
The police officer that talked to us later that night said there had been a lot of accidents on the freeway that night, and at least one confirmed death.
I woke up the next morning with whiplash. I was so happy to wake up with whiplash.
I safely made it home the next day. Being with the family again has been bomb. Christmas was wonderful. Goodness, it's good to be back.
Glad you're safe!
ReplyDeletePretty excruciating hit you took there. Too bad about it. On one hand, it may be just force and acceleration, but on another, it could be point to a particular culprit or two. You should go and look back on it, and check on all these details so they may not impede anyone again.
ReplyDeleteHoward Kurtz @ Kurtz & Bloom
This is one of the disadvantages of our much-awaited winter time. It’s hard to hit a piece of ice and get lost on your car’s controls. Should you face another accident like this, I suggest you get your car checked. How are you now? :)
ReplyDeleteCheryl Bush
Oh dear! Good thing nothing bad happened to you guys. I am glad that no one got hurt as well. It’s really a bit dangerous to drive around with melting snow everywhere. I do hope you guys are more careful next time. Take care! :)
ReplyDeleteRichard Johnson @ Johnson and Johnson Law Firm