Crazy Accident Story

[jkwest]

So, I was gone last week...I took the fam to Disneyland for three days. Great trip, great weather...

Now, the crazyist part of the trip happened before we even made it to the L.A. area....if any of you have driven the I-5 corridor between L.A. and Sacramento you will know how desolate it is. Long stretches of nothing...anyways...I was driving south towards L.A. in the fast lane roughly 84 mph...cruising speed for that corridor...

I look up in my rear view mirror and see a Chevy Tahoe swerve off the road..back on..and then veer sharply off again..it, then, proceeds to flip over side to side about 8 times...dust and shit flying everywhere...

"Holy Shit!" I say out loud..(first time I've slipped in front of all of my kids... )...I quickly decelerate and flip a Uy until I am going north again...I pass the vehicle, which is resting on its drivers side and pull over on the shoulder. I run over to the SUV and reach it the same time as another guy has, we'll call him Ted for reference...

The passenger door then tries to open..which is "up" like a trapdoor..the other guy, Ted, pulls open the door and this lady, Sally (not her real name), climbs out and falls to the ground..gets up and starts stumbling around...I catch her and slowly sit her down..blood all over the side of her head and coming out of her mouth...I start asking her the normal questions that you do in that situation..

"Holy Shit!! Are you ok!?"
Yes...

"Is there anyone else in the vehicle?"
no

"Are you alright?"
what...

"Is there anyone else in the vehicle?"
No..

"Holy shit! Are you ok?"
I think so..

Ted, then declares, "We need to move her...there are flames coming out of the engine."

So, I pick Sally up and carry her to Ted's truck and trailer which are just north of her car..Ted starts his truck and drives about 100 yards up away from Sally's now smoldering vehicle..others have shown up...a nice lady with some clothes to cover up Sally who is starting to come out of shock..an Oriental guy starts taking photos of the car on fire...and about 4 people calling 911...

We ask Sally if she is in pain anywhere...her wrist, shoulder, nose, and ankle are hurting and most likely all broken...


we, then, watch Sally's SUV methodically burn down to the ground as the ambulance and cops finally show up..I give my statement to the cop as Sally is loaded into the ambulance...

It was all almost surreal...it was nonstop from the beginning and felt almost dreamlike after it was over...
Sally was so frikin lucky..kind of a rush to see how lucky she was...it could have been really bad.
I have never been directly involved in a big accident like that in my life and I hope I don't ever have to be again...
Thanks for reading..