I almost died about 10 minutes ago

[Godhumor]

I went to my mother's house over Memorial Day weekend for our annual BBQ, and went for an hour walk while I was home. While walking, we were talking about two teenagers who worked at Wegmans Grocery Store that were killed earlier in the weekend. After their shift was over, they went to see a movie and were then driving home. A drunk driver got on 590 going the wrong way and hit their car. Both kids died almost instantly (The drunk driver lived--he was driving an SUV). Our conversation centered around just how quick, how sudden something like that can happen; how senseless tragedy could be, and how there is absolutely nothing that can be done about it.

Today I came very close to following those two teenagers.

To get back to my house I have to drive down a couple narrow but well traveled streets. One of these called Ridgeway is a major thru street that just happens to run through a rather beat up residential area. Now technically this is a 4 lane street, but in reality it is 1.5 lanes going each way. Cars park on the side of the road, so the corridor traveling is very narrow to begin with. Anyway, I'm dealing with all this parked traffic on one side, I'm close to the yellow line (but not over) when a car stopped waiting for a turn on the opposite side of the road decided to start turning with me coming head-on at 45 miles an hour. They decided to start turning when I was less than 30 feet away from them.

I literally had no room to swerve thanks to the parked cars, I was down to less than a lane width to maneuver, and the car's nose was at least 4 feet into my lane by this point.

My mind literally shut down; all I remember is my brakes screeching, my horn blaring, everything in my backseat rushing forward, and seeing the idiot car decide to stop, I assume the driver just shut down, half way into my lane. It was going to be a high speed head-on collision.

I closed my eyes, braced for the hit (my elbows are still sore from how hard my arms tensed), and I could feel my car sliding to the right as my brakes locked (The road was newly wet and somewhat slick).

That slightly out of control slide to the right passed me through the turning car and the parked cars with about 2 inches of clearance on each side.

I left about 20 feet of rubber on the street, and the line it takes indicates I slid in the only place that allowed me to not have a 45 mile an hour head-on collision--honestly, I don't think I would have made it through that spot 99 out of a 100 times.

It's the only thing I can see in my mind right now; my arms and legs are shaking almost uncontrollably, and my skin is tingling all over from the amount of adrenaline pumped into my system.

I feel very lucky to not be riding in an ambulance to Rochester General Hospital right now.

[BarenakedLady]

1. How scary!

I'm glad you are ok. :hug:

And howdy neighbor. :hi:

[Godhumor]

Thanks

Taking a little while to get back to functioning level right now.

Thank God it wasn't a Rochester winter...

[1gobluedem]

2. So glad you are okay

That sounds incredibly frightening.

[elfrangel]

3. Glad to know that you are okay.

:hug:

[Bjornsdotter]

4. Oh my!

Thank goodness you are all right. It's so scary when you have a close call like that.

:hug:

[ThomCat]

5. I'm glad you're okay too.

:hug:

Did you contact the police about the other driver?

[Godhumor]

8. No, he sped off after making the turn

All I know is it was a red older model car, 2 doors, and yellow styling on the botton trim (amazing how focused your eyes and memory become in such a situation). He never stopped.

[ThomCat]

10. Even that description could help them keep an eye out.

I hope he gets caught before he hurts someone. :(

[DS1]

6. get a glass of water

you'll want it as the adrenaline wears off

[Joe Fields]

7. It's a wonder you didn't hit anything when you closed your eyes.

Don't ever do that.

[Godhumor]

9. It was a flinch

Literally within 3 feet of the front of the other car--unconscious reaction involved in the bracing.

[Joe Fields]

12. Well I'm certainly happy that you're okay, save for the increased

heart palpitations.:bounce:

[Godhumor]

14. Thanks

And sorry about the eyes closed statement--I was trying to recall what I remember, and I didn't really indicate how long each event occurred--hell, everything seemed to slow down to me.

Probably a better statement would have been remembering bracing and then flinching right before contact.

My heart rate has actually dropped and the shaking has stopped--oddly enough tears are coming otu of my eyes now. I'm not upset or crying, I just have tears leaking out. I wonder if it's a side effect of coming down.

[deutsey]

11. I'm glad you're ok. I had a similar experience a couple years ago

only my car was totalled.

An old woman decided to pull out in front of me just as I was heading into an intersection at about 50 miles an hour. I remember saying, "What the hell are you doing?" before hitting my brakes and slamming into the front of her battleship-sized Buick.

Everything was a jumbled blur for a few seconds and then I found myself looking at the hood of my car crumpled up near the front windshield with steam rising from it and static blaring from my radio. The airbag was like a deflated balloon hanging from my steering wheel. I watched the Buick, with liquid flowing from the radiator onto the street but no other apparent damage, roll off to the side of the road.

I turned off my radio, unbuckled my seatbelt and walked (with a little difficulty) over to see if the woman was ok. She sat at the steering wheel with her eyes closed and for a second I thought she was dead. But she finally came to and muttered incoherent gibberish about a man standing in the road.

A witness came over and told me she saw the whole thing and that I had had the right-of-way, which was reassuring. I was wondering if maybe I flew through a red light without realizing it.

I actually thought I was ok after the accident and refused an ambulance ride to the ER. However, my knees soon began throbbing and my wife insisted we go to get them X-rayed. The next day, I could barely walk and I had the largest, ugliest, blackest bruise on my stomach that I've ever seen.

I did recover completely (it took a while), but I often wonder that if the airbag had not deployed, would I have been more seriously injured or perhaps even killed.

[Godhumor]

15. Glad you're still with us

Just amazing how much can happen in a split second.

[myrna minx]

13. What a relief that you're ok. How frightening. n/t

[LisaM]

16. I would definitely report what you know to the police

it sounds as if you have some information.

[CC]

17. Glad you are ok .

It is scary to come that close, even more so after hearing about two deaths so recently.

As for the drunk driver surviving that crash. A major reason he survived is he was drunk and most likely did not tense up before that crash more than that he was in an SUV. (They are crashes when it is a drunk driver not an accident.) According to the shock trauma doctors and a lot of the nurses plus paramedics etc. I volunteer with that is why most drunk drivers survive their crashes. They said should you every get in an accident the best thing you can do besides avoid it altogether is make yourself go limp before impact. I'm not sure how your are suppose to overcome instinct and do that though.

[jobycom]

18. COOL! Now, buy a lottery ticket!

You never know, you could be on a role!

Seriously, glad you're okay. Had to be harrowing.

[KitchenWitch]

19. Love and light to you... don't forget to breathe!

:hug:

[NewWaveChick1981]

20. You need this...

:hug: :hug: :hug: :pals: I'm incredibly glad nobody got hurt. I know you're shaken up, but man, am I glad you're OK. :hug:

[Godhumor]

21. The oddest thing is I can "feel" the accident

It was really weird. I felt the impact, I can still see the front of my car crumbling, and I can feel the airbag deploying. I can also "hear" the sound of metal crashing.

I know this is a mental reaction to such a stressful situation, but it still feels weird. I have a tactile memory of something that didn't happen.

[helderheid]

22. Oh my goodness!!!!!!! I'm so glad you're alright!!!

[cwydro]

23. Glad you're OK.

That sounds scary as hell. I've had close calls like that and it's no fun.:hug:

[SCRUBDASHRUB]

24. OMG; thank G-d you're alright!!

[Guava Jelly]

25. I am glad you are safe and still with us

They say what doesn't kill us makes us stronger.
You just got a little stronger!

[TommyO]

26. Very lucky indeed, I almost wound up in the hospital last Thursday

instead of heading out to Chicago for the weekend. I was less than half a mile from my house when I realized that I had forgotten my wallet (it was the only thing that I had forgotten) and turned around to go back for it. On my street, somebody backed out of their parking space very quickly, presumably without looking for any other cars. I braked, swerved, beeped, and swore, but managed to avoid the car which continued to back out and drive off. BASTARD!

Completely off topic, I love Wegmans - there are three stores within a 20 minute drive from me and they are my regular grocery store.

[u4ic]

27. Wow! So glad you're okay!

I had a close brush last week. Took me a while to settle down, too.

:hug: :hug: :hug:

[S n o w b a l l]

28. wow....scary!

I can only imagine how shaken you must be. It's those reminders to live each day to the fullest since life can be cut short in an instant.

So glad you're ok and hope you relax soon.

[grace0418]

29. I'm so glad you're okay. God, there are some dumbass drivers out there.

:hug: