you never think it'll happen to you (long)

You hear the stories, see the photos, absorb the facts... But you never think you'll ever be part of those statistics.

That's what I thought... until yesterday. I'm talking about drunk drivers and hit-and-runs. I was on my way home from work, and pulled up to a stop sign before engaging into a quiet intersection to turn left. I was not even halfway across when a dark blue/green car went through his stop sign and smashed into my car. I only saw him in time to apply the brakes, but it wasn't fast enough. He demolished the near entirety of my hood and engine. Amazingly, my windshield was intact, and the car was still running. Shaken, I managed to crawl the car across the intersection and park it by the side of the road, seeing 2 cars pull up behind me and the occupants get out to come and see if I was ok. I was shaking pretty hard, and in disbelief, but I was otherwise fine. The other car didn't even stop, he swerved to get around my mangled car and kept going. The witnesses told me he had at least 2 flat tires and smoke coming out of his hood, but he didn't stop. One of the witnesses saw the man get out of his car, check the damage, get back in and drive off again.

A tow truck happened to be going by (how convenient), saw the commotion and helped us out. 15 long minutes later, a lone police car came by and the officer took down statements (mine and witnesses) and drove me home. My car is a complete write-off. Dead. Not a good way to finish the week! Good news is: the police found and arrested the drunk driver (who managed to get his beat up car to a town 20 minutes away), with the positive ID of one of the witnesses, and the driver is now facing criminal charges.

I felt fairly useless. I couldn't tell the police what kind of car it was that hit me (all I know is that it was blue/green and round in design... like a 626 Cronos or something like that), I didn't see the driver, and I wasn't even sure what lane he was driving in...

And to top it all off, following my mother's advice and the advice of a nurse at Info-SantÃ[emoji]169[/emoji], (I had a slight headache) spent 2 hours in the emergency waiting room before seeing a doctor who told me 'you're fine.'

What a day! I was REALLY lucky, though. Had he been going faster, or had I been slower on the brake, he'd have struck the driver's side door. Who knows where I'd be then?!? Someone or something was certainly looking out for me at that moment!

I am so glad you are okay. I can't imagine how scared you must have been!!! My thoughts are with you.

My secretary's daughter and son-in-law were killed by a drunk driver while they were delivering christmas presents to poor children. It was horrible beyond belief. The only good thing is that they died on impact and didn't suffer as their van burned in a huge inferno.

Wow. Thank goodness you are OK. You must be pretty shaken up. I hope they take his license away for a long long time.

If you think you are even slightly injured in a car accident you should ALWAYS go to the ER. When I was rear-ended last year just my hip hurt but I insisted on medical help because I've heard this and it turns out that the accident actually affected my heart!

Don't worry about not having been of any help. That's normal. I had a gov't teacher who displayed this by having another student run in and hit him with an object and scream something and then run back out during class. We had to write up what we saw and none of us were completely right. That's why multiple witnesses are better.

I'm glad you're fine. You'll be shaken for some time, that's normal. Even though it's been a year, whenever I'm stuck by the side of the road I get shaken again because that's how I got hit. The best thing to do, when you have a vehicle again, is to go back to that intersection and drive through it again.

If you start having flashbacks, see a counselor because you're suffering from PTSD, which is also normal.

You were so lucky! My sister years ago and her hubby were driving home late when a drunk hit them broadside- they were in a honda, he was in a pickup truck! Both Gwen and Mike were critically injured. Gwen had an out of body experience in the ambulance and she was pregnant as well! They were both in the hospital for 3 months and to this day she has a permanently curled right hand, because she was driving and her hand got squashed in the wreck. But they are fine as is my niece.

You take care, it is likely to hit you in a few days what happened and you may go into PTSD. So just try and relax and take it easy- how scared and angry you must have been!

Thank God you´re OK! I can imagine you were shaken! It´s enough to get run into, but this must have been a very bad experience.

Lotsocats, what a sad story!
Mary Anne, terrible experience for your sister and her hubby, she being pregnant and all, I quess they were lucky to survive.

Oh my God! How scary that must have been! Thank God you were ok. Bless those people for stopping to make sure you were doing ok. There are a lot of people out in the World who don't want to get involved, so they don't stop when something like that happens.

I'm sure you're upset that you have a totaled car, but just remember it can be replaced and you can not be. I do hope that the Drunk Driver gets what he deserves and has his license revoked forever (but it probably won't stop his driving though ).

Big hugs to you Hon! Take care of yourself and don't hesitate to seek help if you need it.
(((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((HUGS)))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))

And a good thing they captured the drunk. I hope Canadian laws are tougher than American laws in such cases. Here, someone like him could be back behind the wheel in a very short time.

Moments like these really make you take a good look at your life...

Wow, that is awful. Thank goodness you are ok. As my family says, cars can be replaced, people can't. Take it easy over the weekend.

What an experience. I'm SO glad you're ok. I think it's common to think "it will never happen to me" until it DOES happen to you! I hope this guy meets lady justice with a bang and gets what he deserves. Let's hope he also learns a lesson. Frightening!

Tammie & Peaches

I have been one of those drivers that drank and drove, and got put in the hospital for 10 days for it...I have never got behind a wheel since after drinking any type of alcohol..I don't even drink anymore either...I am so glad you are alright though...I know after something like this happens, it seems like you have flash backs, espcially while driving, or being in the passenger seat....((hugs)) Glad you are ok!!

Thank God you are ok!!!!! My brother was not so lucky.He was killed by a drunk driver! Take it easy .And like the other's said you can replace the car.

Glad you are ok! Try and relax for a bit, don't jump right back into life! Take a day or two to yourself, you deserve it after a trauma like that!

OMG! I'm so glad you are OK, and were able to walk away from it. (((HUGS)))

Sherral, I am so sorry about your brother!

Oh My Gosh. I feel for you. I had chosen not to share this with the cat site but I have decided I will now.This happened around two weeks ago. My Mum works at nights and she came home to take me to college and I was just quitely reading when I looked out the window and I saw we were on the other side of the road cars coming from all directions and stuff and Mum was asleep I had to yell & yell to wake her up, I had never been so scared in my life :bawled: I didn't post for a day or two , I'm so glad you are ok and I hope it doesn't happen again and all I can say is at least you were not the one drunk eh!

Hang in there!

Sam

Thank you Pollyanne!

Glad that you are all right and that they got the a&&. Now you know why I drive big, old heavy cars.

thanks all for your support. It is starting to slowly sink in just HOW lucky I was. Not even a scratch! But I do feel guilty for "killing" the car. Even though I know it wasn't my fault, and that I couldn't have done anything about it, it's still a feeling of responsibilty. Especially since my car was old (92 Nissan Sentra), and we were thinking of buying a new car, this just complicates things a lot. Do we rent? Do we buy (or wait for the Echo Hatchback to come out so we can compare it with the other models we're considering)? How much will the insurance cover? Since I'm under 25, we'll have to pay extra for the rental, etc...

I think what happened will really hit home when we go to the towing lot today to finish getting our stuff out of the car so they can send it for parts or to the wrecking yard (*whimper*). I'm going to take pictures, and I'll post them as soon as I get them developped.