Wednesday, March 11th, 2009. 6:22PM was an action-packed minute. I’ll get to my side of the story—and there’s video too—but to set the scene, here are some pictures, all taken between 6:33 and 6:54. (And, just to get it out of the way, nobody was hurt.)
[click any image to make it larger]
I was in our front room, drafting an email, when I heard terrific noise from the street. It was the unmistakable sound of a car collision. I lept from my computer to the open window to seek out the source. As I was jumping up, my first thought was, “Gosh, what a terrible parker,” but then the sound of an engine at high RPM registered in my brain. This was something more.
I should pause the story to mention something. You know how the human body releases a surge of adrenaline when faced with a potentially fight-or-flight situation? Not only do heart and breathing rates increase, but a flood of other physiological changes manifest, including heightened senses, blood vessel dilation, and inhibition of the digestive system. Well, another fascinating reaction to certain stressful situations is that the brain “speeds up”—which is why you hear people say “everything was in slow motion” or “so many thoughts went through my head all at once.” Well, I was flushed with adrenaline, which explains the amount of thinking I was able to pack into about ten seconds.
When I reached the window, I looked up the street about 100 feet and could see an SUV plowing into the car in front of it and stubbornly pushing it down the street. I was reminded of an incident many years ago, where someone suffered a stroke as they were pulling out of a parking space; blue smoke was everywhere as the sedan pushed into the car in front of it, moving very slowly. A brave neighbor pulled the person out and stopped the car. I wondered if something similar was happening here.
This is the car that was hit first. (It, in turn, hit the car in front of it.)
I was about to leave the window and rush outside, but then the SUV changed course. It veered left, running across the street, narrowly missing a parked car on the other side. It then jumped the curb, plowing through a two-foot brick-and-dirt wall like it was a sand castle.
And it kept going, glancing off the next house’s porch… and flying straight toward my late grandmother’s house. I contemplated the fact that if it had enough momentum to launch itself over that wall, perhaps it could take down part of the house. I’ve seen pictures of that kind of thing happening. But the dirt in the front garden was so soft that once the SUV landed, it just skidded forward a couple feet (destroying the banister on the front steps) and sank into the dirt. It was done.
I think my first thought after that was, “call 911.” Either that or, “Is there any way this thing could catch fire?” Either way, it wasn’t going to explode, and I saw that two bystanders were already dialing their cell phones.
My next thought was, “Camera?” And I almost got it, but somehow that felt irresponsible. I felt like I should rush out there—but then again, the folks in the next house (who lost their fence) were already on the scene, and I had already determined that the danger was past. It was quite a dilemma, and I went back and forth for all of three seconds (which was a long time in my super-man state, remember).
By this time, Mama walked into the room, and I briefly explained the situation on my way out the door.
Just think; Papa sometimes gardens right here in the evening. What a chilling thought.
The folks in the gray house (412 Lincoln) offered to help the driver, but she climbed out, insisting she was OK and to leave her alone. Then she walked away, clearly freaking out and in shock.
And thus began an hour and a half of the whole neighborhood gathering around, talking and sharing information or theories as to what happened.
Several minutes after the accident, a neighbor pointed out that the car was still on, so I carefully climbed around the hood to turn it off. The rear wheels were still spinning in a cavity of dirt. Opening the driver-side door, I reached around the airbag, found the key, turned off the car, and then took a few seconds to soak in as many visual details of the interior as I could.
On the floor, I could see two colorful, slip-on women’s shoes. The right one was lodged between the accelerator and the center column. Ah ha!
I later learned that she started accelerating a block up the street, pushing that first car forward about 30 feet. I figure she hit it at such a high speed that her airbag had doubtlessly been deployed, rendering her car uncontrollable as it careened across the street and into our yard(s).
This is why everyone should have auto insurance.
Following is a video showing the scene and the removal of the SUV.
that's a nice post