This morning while I was taking my two daughters and three other kids to school, a guy that was using his phone while driving crossed over into our lane and we hit him pretty much head on. His last minute slide kept us from hitting nose to nose and probably saved him a few broken bones. Luckily, the truck performed like a champ and none of us were seriously injured. My youngest daughter drew the short straw and was in the middle of the front seat without an airbag and with only a lap belt, so she hit the dash and got a cut over her eye, a swollen face and a big headache. Other than that it was just bumps and bruises and a lot of frayed nerves.
The guy in the other car definitely broke his nose cuz he looked like Ben Rothlesberger. I think he was ok other than being really freaked out about the whole thing, but they did take him to the hospital. Despite his stupidity for texting/phoning and driving, I kind of felt sorry for him. He was more freaked out than the kids. I'm sure I'd feel a lot different if one of the kids was hurt. Luckily, he didn't have a passenger or they'd probably be dead cuz I pretty much parked in his passenger seat.
I have to say that it was a very unique feeling to be coming around a turn with a guardrail on one side and an embankment on the other (i.e. no way out) and getting just a split second to realize you're about to hit somebody head-on at 40 mph. Even stranger was how soft the collision felt. I have to hand it to technology (and probably give a little credit for having a very large vehicle) because that truck absorbed everything and kept us all safe. Even the firemen were amazed at how little the passenger compartment compacted despite all the damage right in front of it. Scary stuff, but a great day considering everybody walked away.
Probably the most entertaining part was when they tried to separate the cars and the WakeWorld rig would not release its prey. It took them about 20 minutes to finally get them separated.
Oh, and my daughter was a hero at the high school because we shut down the road and half the school was way late, but had an excuse!
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