Today I was in a car accident. Everyone is OK. It wasn’t my fault and I wasn’t cited.
Normally, I would say that I was lucky that I was in my dually… but I’m not sure. If I had been in a smaller car, there would have been less damage.
I’m quite rattled. I think because I didn’t see it coming. I only felt it – after – and had to look in my sideview mirror to understand what I felt.
And then I was stunned.
Shocked.
Was I just in an accident?! Is anyone hurt?!
LIFE PASSING BEFORE ME
I’ve had this happen once before. It was when I was on a runaway mule. I knew I was in real trouble and everything around me slowed way down. I was acutely aware of what was happening outside of my body, but also very aware of how my mind was trying to pull together – very quickly – all the experiences in my life to figure out if I had a solution to this very large problem.
But that was not how it was today. I had no idea anything was happening until after it had happened. “What happened?!” I had no idea. The unknowing was very unsettling.
Once again, time slowed down for me. As soon as I understood that the image in my side view mirror was a ‘car accident’, my mind went into overdrive.
Stopped in the middle of the intersection, I saw the faces of every driver on all four sides. No one moved. Everyone let me decide what I was going to do – where I was going to go.
At that point, the shock part was settling in. I could see the commotion around the incident area put I could hear nothing. My mind was very calm but hysterical at the same time. It was as if my survival persona was telling me what I needed to do, but my mind was screaming.
I called 911
“I was in an accident. I don’t know what happened.”
The operator asked me questions as I walked back to the scene. A woman grabbed my arm and said, “You had the green.” I turned my head slowly as if in a dream – but she was gone.
When I reached the scene I just said, “I’m sorry. I didn’t see you.”
At that point, more officers had arrived and one took me by the arm and walked me across the street. She took my statement. I started to cry. She asked me if I had been drinking or if I was on my phone when the accident occurred. I said no to both. Another policeman came over and took photos of my truck and made some conclusions about how it was hit.
My mind was confused. I wanted someone to tell me what happened so I could make sense of it but the police kept asking questions instead… I was present but my mind wanted to checkout. I called Hubby.
ON MY WAY HOME…
The police didn’t cite me and they told me that all the witnesses said that I had the right of way and that I was driven into.
Of course, it was all timing. He said that we were both very lucky.
Timing. It was the timing of it that had me spinning. If I had been later, it wouldn’t have happened at all. If I had been earlier, it would have been much worse. Did my decisions today lead up to this?
… if only I had left the restaurant earlier… if I hadn’t stopped at the market on the way home… If I hadn’t made the right instead of the left out of the market…
Did any of that matter? Or was today our day to collide.
CALLED MY INSURANCE COMPANY
As instructed, I called USAA as soon as I got home.
To my surprise, the adjuster was an angel. “From now on, we’ll handle it. Just be happy that you are all OK. These things happen thousands of times a day. This is what we do. This is why you carry insurance.”
The image of thousands of people walking around in a daze like me – or worse – every day… sobered me.
Instead of seeing my life pass before my eyes, what I had seen was the horrible potential of living a life knowing what could have happened today – if I had been a few seconds earlier.
Thank you, godsinheaven, for sparing me – and the intimate stranger – from our lives being forever changed in that moment.

This is Yosemite Falls. Very rarely is the light shining perfectly to capture an image like this one. Timing.

Thanking the Lord you and the other driver are okay. I dread the thought of having an accident, even a little fender bender, but you described your feelings and senses in what could have been a life-altering moment. Of all those close calls I have experienced, without a doubt, timing has been the unknown factor. Knowing insurance will take care of this will add to your sense of relief in the days ahead. So thankful you are safe.
O, Dawn I’m glad your safe!
Yes, all OK. Thank you.
Thank you…
I was in an auto accident on 12/13/14. A young girl (19ish) ran a stop sign and I T-boned her going 60mph. I saw her car pulling out in front of me and I remember thinking “oh no” and then impact. The noise of the impact and the exploding of the airbags is a sound I will never ever forget. I suffered a broken femur, knee cap and ribs but we both survived. I too wonder if I had done things differently would the outcome be the same, but somehow feel everything happened the way it was supposed to. There was a truck behind me. If she had pulled out in front of him instead of me and my little Honda she probably would have been killed.
Soooooo happy you are OK!
So glad you’re ok…and I hope the other person is too.
Scary!