I saw a white flash out of the corner of my eye, and the next thing I knew I was facing sideways and had taken the impact of an airbag to my face. It took a moment, but then it hit me, I had just crashed.
That realization made me spring into action. I looked over at the woman in the other car, who was freaking the hell out, but thankfully awake. I lifted myself right up out of my seat and hopped out over the passenger door (perks of a convertible). I ran over, opened the door and helped the woman out of her car. We were both seemingly uninjured, thank God.
At that point, though, I realized she was pregnant, like very pregnant, and the concern for both of us turned to her baby. Luckily the paramedics cleared her when they arrived.
After I knew we were all okay, I looked back over at my gleaming read Miata. I had just signed the papers on it 4 days prior, and now here it was, smashed up good in the middle of the street. I didn’t have time for emotions, though, I knew I had to take document the scene, and take photos from every angle.
As I did so, I called my parents to come pick me up, my boss to let him know I wouldn’t be in today, and my girlfriend to let her know what had happened and that I was alright.
I was riding the massive wave adrenaline, but I was feeling very cloudy in my head. There was just so much I had to do, so many bases I knew I had to cover. I never took even a second to stop and catch my breath, I never allowed myself a brief moment to calm myself down after taking a hard hit to the head. Finally it caught up with me. As we were all exchanging our insurance information, I realized I had been doing way too much, and I turned and vomited all over the ground.
At that point, the officers at the scene told me I should really get to the hospital. I knew vomiting wasn’t a good sign, and luckily my parents were almost there by then. I gave my statement to the police, watched my buddy, Ace (the Miata) get dragged onto a flatbed, and went off to the hospital.
Continue reading A Day I Hoped Would Never Happen: Reacting To My First Accident →
Mind Over Motor 