was in a car accident yesterday, but that wasn't the worst part

My sister and her husband visited us over the weekend, but before taking them to the airport yesterday we were on our way to our daughter's school to pick her up to have an early dinner together.

My husband was driving and my brother-in-law was sitting next to him, my sister and I were in the back seat all heading north in the right lane on Highway 17. Unknown to us, a car stalled up ahead and was partially blocking the right lane. The car in front of us stopped unexpectedly and either had no brake lights or the driver's foot was off of the brake, so it was sudden but my husband was able to stop in time and didn't hit the car in front of us.

Unfortunately, the car behind us did not stop in time and hit us from the back. Both cars pulled over, of course, and we were collecting insurance info from the glove box so we could get out and head away from the cars (it's very dangerous to stay near them) to the embankment to exchange information. 

But before we could do that, we heard brakes screech and the exact same accident happened in front of us, but this time it was a 14-wheeler hitting a car with that sickening loud bang and an explosion of glass and metal. We called 911 not for our fender-bender but for the people in the accident we just witnessed.

The fire department arrived first and told us we could leave and then they shut down all but one lane. The car that was hit by the truck was only half there, the trunk and back seat were GONE, squished up to the front seats. We believe there were no passengers in the back seat of that car.

I can't help but think if we had been hit by that truck instead of a Toyota, there's no way my sister and I could have survived. We are a little shaken up but relieved and thankful we had a Toyota behind us! (I'm also thankful our daughter was spared the trauma of being in and then witnessing the accidents.)

OMG how our lives can change in a split second!

SwampWitch said:

OMG how our lives can change in a split second!

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You said it! What a frightening, horrible experience to have. It's so fortunate that you were "just" hit by a Toyota! An experience like that certainly makes you realize how fleeting life can be.

Car accidents are so scary. I'm glad you are ok.

I was in a car accident on August 25. There was a car in front of us and my husband had looked away for about half a second and I saw her car stop (and didn't see any brake lights) and yelled for him to stop. He slammed on the brakes, but there wasn't enough time and he hit her. We were in a construction zone and just so happen to be right beside a big pile of dirt so my husband couldn't swerve. Both cars were totaled, but the ladies car that he hit was definitely worse than ours. We were fine, but I was 28 weeks pregnant and went to the hospital to get checked out to make sure baby was fine. It's a long story after that, they found tons of problems with my pregnancy (not caused by the accident) and baby was born a week and a half later.

I'm so glad that you are ok. And thank goodness there was nobody in the back seat of the other vehicle.

Looks like someone was watching over you!

Scary stuff indeed! I am so nervous in cars for those kind of reasons. (And after losing two family members in a car crash). 
Your story reminds me of the time my ex bf and I took our lunch hour from school to go eat at KFC. There were another group of teens from school there too. We were about to leave and I asked to get another refill on my drink first. During that time, the other group left. We left just a few moments later. On our way back, we heard sirens coming from behind (we were going up a large hill), pulled over and a police car went by. We got to the top of the hill and on the other side was the car with the other kids that went ahead of us. They got collided with a truck and the car was totaled. I kept thinking how easily it could have been us.

But yeah, glad you guys are all safe! Hopefully the person in the other car is ok too.

I am glad you are all okay.  My prayer is that the other folks are too.  Life can change instantly.  I am sure everyone has a testimony to that effect. Thanks for sharing your story.  Hugs to all of you.

OMG! How scarey!  Thankfully you are ok!  

Any word on the occupant of the car that was hit by the truck?!

Oh my goodness! I'm so glad you guys are okay! Wow, scary!! Yes, Thank goodness no one was in that back seat.

Oh my goodness!  I'm so glad you are all ok!  I passed an accident once where the car was very very mangled.  News reports later confirmed the fatalities.  The ambulance was a few cars behind me and not in a hurry...so that along with the faces of the people who had stopped told me all I needed to know.  Life is so precious.

It sounds like your husband was doing what he should, allowing a safe distance in front of you, and the truck driver wasn't. Our company wants us to maintain a 7-second following distance and a 15-second sight distance.

Any idea how the car occupants fared?

Now, I'm going to tell you something, because it will almost certainly come up very quickly. If you were very close to the accident, even though you weren't directly involved, a good lawyer could probably get you a fair bit of money for endangerment and mental anguish.

Hey thanks everyone. I don't know any more about the crash, it's not in the Saanich or Victoria news, but the "Pat Bay Highway" is pretty dangerous and in the news quite a bit, especially if there are fatalities. That's good news for the car that was hit by the truck! The fire department was pretty calm after they arrived, and there were people standing back from the highway, everyone looked kind of shocked but nobody was freaking, that's why I don't think anybody was in the back seat.

So glad you are all safe. 

How scary! Glad you are all okay!

When I was a baby, my mom was rearended by a drunk driver going approximately 45mph, she was stopping to make a turn. She saw something fly into the windshield and thought it was me, but it was just a stuffed animal I had in the back. The drunk driver had also been in a wreck that killed his wife 6 months earlier, also while he was driving intoxicated. I don't remember the accident, my mom said I was calm and didn't even cry, but her car was messed up bad. She had a big old boat Oldsmobile.

I've been in a couple minor bumps as a passenger before. My worst personal accident was at the drag strip. It took me awhile to get past that one because of the end results.

I hope the person in the other car also came out of the accident unscathed!

How frightening that must have been for all of you. So glad you are alright. Accidents like that can take some time to get over. They shake you to the core.

I'm so glad you're OK and I hope the other people are OK, too. I hope nobody was in the back seat!