Rantings of a Black Polemicist

Ouch.

Monday, June 13th, 2005 | General

I left for work a little late today. I tried to make up for it by driving a little faster than usual. I consider myself a good driver, but not everyone else is.

I was barreling down Lancaster Avenue, right in front of Villanova University. The light turned yellow. I stepped on the gas a little more in an effort to make the light. A big cargo van coming from the opposite direction wanted to turn left before the light changed. He was cutting it a little close, but whatever. I didn’t see that there was an SUV right behind the big van that wanted to do the same. SUV driver had the misfortune of making a flawed assumption: if the van in front of him could make the left, so could he. He didn’t look to see if I was coming. He just turned. So technically, he’s at fault.

We didn’t see each other until it was too late. I slammed into him at full-force, turning his SUV over onto the driver’s side. Everything moves in slow motion during an impact. A flurry of vivid thoughts and emotions swept through me in the moments before and during impact.

I remember the anti-lock brakes trying to slow me in vain. I remember feeling the impact of the collision and acknowledging that it was the strongest one I’d ever felt. I remember the smell of freshly-deployed airbags. I remember the terrified look of the other driver trapped in his overturned SUV.

Paramedics got there quickly. I went to a local hospital and got a few stitches for a laceration on my hand and treatment for a wrist and ankle sprain. The other guy was carried out on a stretcher and went to a trauma center at another hospital.

It’s odd. I didn’t get that “I could have died today” feeling. I didn’t feel like I’d been given a new lease on life. In fact, I was kind of dissapointed that I didn’t get to bill any hours today.

I’ll be in bright and early tomorrow, crutches and all. I’ll just be sure to leave earlier so I don’t feel the urge to make up for lost time on the road.

Since the car is totalled, it’s time to start looking for a new ride.

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