MARCH 20, 2007
Turns out it takes awhile to recover from sheer terror because it's nearly 24 hours later and I'm still shaken. Thankfully, my body is only a little sore from the accident, but my brain still feels like it's careening out of control at 50 mph, which makes sense considering that's exactly what happened last night.
I was running errands, driving on the top level of the Marquam bridge (I-5 North), when it happened. There was a police car right behind me at the time, so I was making sure to drive the speed limit and be careful, but all of a sudden it seemed like the laws of physics just up and stopped working. One moment I was driving along no problem, the next moment my car suddenly spun out of control and there was nothing I could do to stop it.
It began when the back of the Prius started to fishtail for no reason and the steering and brakes stopped working at the same time and my car totally spun out of control. First it spun to the left and sent me barreling towards a semi truck in the next lane and I thought for sure I was going to be killed by slamming into it. But then, when I was just inches from hitting the semi, something happened, but I'm not sure what. All I know is that one second I was bracing for impact with the semi, and the next second my car was violently jerked in the other direction with such force that the Prius literally spun in circles as it flew across three lanes of traffic until the back-end of the driver's side smashed into the side of the bridge. Even then it wasn't over because my car was so out of control and moving so fast that slamming into the bridge didn't stop it, so the car kept going backwards until the wall of the bridge literally ground it to a halt.
When my car did finally stop, I was facing traffic the wrong way on a busy freeway bridge with no shoulder, which is a bad situation to be in, but three cheers to the police for being so quick. As I mentioned, there was a police car right behind me when I spun out of control and, before my car had even come to a complete stop, the police officer sped over and used her car to block the lane of traffic I was in and kept oncoming cars from hitting me. I was so terrified at that point that I was shaking and couldn't think straight, so I just sat in my car and let the police officer come over to me.
The first thing the officer asked was if I was ok and I started yammering about the accident, told her that I had been going the speed limit but that my car had lost control and I had no idea why. Once the officer could get a word in edgewise, she told me that she was right behind me when it happened and assured me that I hadn't done anything wrong, and that the likely cause was an oil or gas spill on the freeway. Turns out someone had called the police to report a slick substance on the bridge that was causing traffic problems so the police officer was sent to check it out and, unfortunately, I was the person who confirmed that, yes indeed, something slicker than snot was on the road.
Once the police confirmed that I wasn't injured, they checked my car to see if it was drivable and that was the first good news of the night. The Prius did get munched a good one in the back, but the damage didn't affect its ability to function, so the police told me that they were going to block a second lane of traffic to give me enough room to turn my car around and then I was free to go. Turns out there's no paperwork to be done for a single car accident with no injury so, once I got the Prius facing the right direction, I drove to the next exit and shakely made my way home which, thankfully, was only a few miles.
Ross, of course, did the hysterical significant other dance when I got home and told him about the accident but he finally calmed down once I swore on a stack of Depeche Mode cds that I was really alright. I had a headache and the left side of my body hurt, but that was all, and I was much more concerned about the car. We've only had the Prius a year or so and we absolutely love it, so I felt rotten about crashing it, but Ross took a look at the damage and said it will be easy to fix. Whether or not he was honest about that, I don't know, but he at least convinced me to sit down and relax for the rest of the night.
And that's when things finally did seem ok for the first time. I was home with Ross, alive and in one piece, and that's the one thing that flashed through my mind when my car spun out of control. I was afraid I was going to die and never see Ross again and, as my car spiraled across the freeway, he was the foremost thought on my mind. All I wanted, more than anything in the world, was to be safe in his arms again, so a crunched up car and my rankled nerves and sore body didn't matter in the end. I still have the only thing that truly matters and falling asleep in his arms last night was a sweetness and comfort beyond all words.
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