Well, this post will probably be long, but I really feel like I need to write down my car crash experience. I keep thinking of all the ways it could have been so much worse, and I just want to write it all out, at least as best as I remember.
On Saturday morning, we were heading up to a dealership Bountiful, where we had a credit, to take Brian's car to get its timing belt replaced. As we approached the bridge that connects 215 to I-15, we could see lots of police cars on the bridge. I could see cars in front of me moving to the left lane, so I started to brake in preparation to move left. The roads had been clear so far, and I had no reason to think there would be ice, but there was. I swerved to the right, tried to correct (but the thought DON'T OVERCORRECT! was clear in my mind) and slid left hard. Brian, who was in his car several cars ahead of me, said he saw me heading perpendicular to the direction of the road. I slid off the road, through the snow, maybe 10-20 feet, until I hit the cable barrier. The impact turned my car facing forward, and we scraped the driver side rear view mirror completely off. The barrier rebounded my car back toward the road, but I stopped just before I got into the left lane.
At this point, I remember saying something like, "Brian, please stop!"
And, he did!
I drove my car forward until I got to his car, and there was an awful, terrible scraping sound. I thought I had popped a tire or two and that I was driving on the rims. I got out and started crying while Brian just hugged me tight.
I looked at my car, and all the tires were just fine. The front end, though, was pretty crumpled. Brian noticed fluids leaking, and there were pieces hanging down. (I know, this is a very girly explanation of what it looked like.....that's ok.) Brian said the radiator was broken, too. I noticed that the driver rear side looked like the frame was bent a little. Brian started calling a towing company and the police while I started moving the boys and their car seats into Brian's car.
Sometime during all this, another car slid off the road in the exact spot I had. If we hadn't moved, he would have hit us. Luckily, the snow stopped his car before he hit the barrier. I guess, actually, the barrier wasn't there anymore in that spot. Anyway, he was able to call his son to come help him out.
A salt truck came through just after the second guy slid off the freeway.
After that, I saw two more cars on the other side of the freeway slide off.
We waited for a few minutes for the tow truck and the police to come. We tried to empty my car of anything we needed--my stroller, Camden's bike, etc.
The tow truck came. When the police came, he told us he'd rather do his report in Bountiful than on the freeway, so we drove up to the dealership where we were originally going. I talked to him and filled out a little paperwork. He told me he thought I was going too fast for conditions, but he wouldn't cite me. I probably was going too fast, but I would argue that I had no way to know that there was ice, when there hadn't been, and that I wasn't going faster than anyone else. I think if I hadn't braked, I wouldn't have slipped.
Pause here. The kids so far seemed ok. Nate was pretty unaware that anything was wrong. He was happy because he had a bag of Lucky Charms to eat. Camden has always been quite sensitive if I cry, even when he was only a few months old. He kept asking why I was so sad or why I was so scared, over and over. He also felt upset that our car (a black Camry he named Darth Vader) was crushed and had to leave with the tow truck. Brian helped him feel better by telling him he could name our next car.
We spent some time at the dealership while the police wrote up his report. I called my aunt, who is the person closest to Bountiful who I know, and my uncle was able to take us back home while Brian's car got fixed. (His car is a green Civic named Yoda.)
Later, Brian's sister lent us her car so we could go back and get Brian's car.
We also learned that afternoon that the original crash--the one on the bridge for which I was slowing down--involved a truck, a couple, and several dogs. The woman was 39 weeks pregnant with a little boy. She was flown to the hospital, where the baby was delivered. But, the man, the woman, the baby boy, and the dogs all died.
Blessings so far:
~I didn't hit any other cars when I slid off the road.
~The cable barrier prevented me from sliding all the way across onto the southbound 215.
~Brian was in front of me AND saw me fly off the road.
~I didn't hit any other cars on my rebound.
~The front of the car--not the side of the car--hit the barrier. Nate and I sit on the driver's side. If the car had hit the side, we both could have been badly hurt.
~Brian saw it in his rearview mirror and stopped. Can't say how much I love him and how grateful I am he was there.
~I was able to drive far enough to be out of danger of the other car that slid. That car would have hit Camden's side. Would I have moved forward if hadn't Brian been there?
~The salt truck that came through helped prevent more cars from sliding and hitting us while we waited for the police and the tow truck.
~The officer didn't cite me. This means we don't have to pay any fines, and our insurance company is happier with me.
~Dear, wonderful family members took care of us and helped us get where we needed to go.
~I've been feeling the baby kick often, and I have a doctor appointment this week.
My mom texted me later that night that she felt like the evil mom in Tangled and wanted to wrap us up in cotton and not let us leave our home. I told her that I felt like we had been wrapped up--but in a force far stronger than cotton. Looking back, I truly feel like there were a hundred things that could have been much worse, and not one of them happened. We lost Darth Vader, but he was old and served us well. We are all alive. Not just alive--unharmed. I thought I would be terribly sore, but I really haven't been. I feel so strongly that the Lord protected us.
