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!
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!
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