shape
carat
color
clarity

Near miss today!

Status
Not open for further replies. Please create a new topic or request for this thread to be opened.

arjunajane

Ideal_Rock
Joined
Jan 18, 2008
Messages
9,758
Ok, this may be a little longwinded as I need to explain, but bear with me.

There was a crazy storm out of the blue here today (it's Summer), and there were heaps more than usual cars on the road, crazy traffic jams. I was driving home from work and it had been raining heavily - as per usual in these conditions, many drivers were acting like jerks (shout out to Steel's thread!)..
5.gif


I am sitting at a set of lights at a 4 way intersection, the last set before getting home in a nearly hour long drive in what usually takes 5 to 10 mins.
20.gif

Please keep in mind while reading, here we drive on the left hand side of the road and the driver sits in the right hand side of the car (otherwise it won't make sense to you, lol)
5.gif

So I am sitting at the light, facing west, waiting to turn right (north). I am just casually watching the traffic come from the south, who are also turning right (east), so are driving up a hill, around the corner and travelling past my right hand side.

As if in slow motion, I watch a young girl shunt into the back of the car infront of her (God knows how!) - at first I think, oh great a fender bender, and thought it would end there - but the car that's been hit proceeds to career wildly towards me alot faster than I had thought they were travelling - the car is heading straight for my drivers side door, while I watch, and there is nothing I can do as there are cars packed to my front and back. Even if I could move I doubt I would've been able to react. I am sure they are going to hit me, and hard, and I am just bracing for impact - I am so surprised I don't even think to raise my arms in defence...The car mounts the concrete island barrier, lurches toward me, then at the very last second, seriously an inch or two from my face, the driver somehow manages to steer out of it and careers back onto their side of the road and eventually stops without hitting a thing..
23.gif


Their car is clearly stuffed from the hit to the back plus hitting the island, and I watch the expression on the yourng girls face in the first car, as she throws up her hands seeing what she's caused.

I turn back to the light (still red, this has all of course been just a matter of seconds), and am so relieved/shocked I shout out "F Me! Fing Hell!" (or something like that), throwing my hands to my face, having my own little moment of amazement and just sheer relief.
I turn to my left to see the guy in the car next to me has clearly also witnessed the whole thing, looking amazed and relieved himself, who smiles at me - I hold my fingers close together and say "This bloody close!" and he nods "I know!"..

Then the light turns green, and I shakily drive off...I am home before its even really sunk in...

Now, I feel extremely bad for the person who got hit, and can only wonder at how lucky it was that they managed to steer out of it - if not, they would have surely smashed a number of cars also behind me, after hitting me, because of the angle and force with which they were heading - it didn't seem at first that they were going very fast, but to give you an idea it looked like the car almost rolled when it un-mounted the island, and swerved alot before finally stopping. They would've already been accelerating to go up the hill, but they must have slammed their foot on the accelerator after being hit
40.gif


I have never had much luck with cars, and have had my share of fender benders and parking lot scrapes
emembarrassed.gif
My car has just been to the shop earlier this year and had every single dent, scratch and mark from the last 4 years or so fixed - after a metal shopping trolley flew into it in a storm, we took the oppurtunity to fix everything as well as that damage. I have also had a huge and very heave tree branch fall from a huge Gumtree straight onto my bonnet in the middle of another storm, on the same road of the accident today...I was the only car on a four lane road at the time, and the tree decided to dumb its' branches just on me
20.gif

So as you can tell I don't have very good luck with cars and storms!
9.gif

You can imagine my relief today when I (and my car) were spared ..

I just had to share this story, as I felt very lucky. I'm sorry it was so very long!
I wanted to stop to help the other driver, but the traffic was too heavy and a number of people had already made moves to help.
Hopefully they were also just shaken up and not hurt..
40.gif




If anyone else has any "near miss" stories and are comfortable to share here, I would like to read them.
 

Maisie

Super_Ideal_Rock
Joined
Dec 30, 2006
Messages
12,587
Wow AJ! I would have been totally shaken up after something like that. I doubt I could have driven home. I am so glad you are ok!!
 

Lorelei

Super_Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
Apr 30, 2005
Messages
42,064
Thanks heavens you are ok AJ!
32.gif
 

Deelight

Ideal_Rock
Joined
Oct 4, 2007
Messages
5,543
6.gif
OMG I am so glad your okay, you definitly have someone watching after you somewhere.
 

arjunajane

Ideal_Rock
Joined
Jan 18, 2008
Messages
9,758
Thanks so much Maisie, Loza and Dee - whoops, I guess I did write that really long-winded...
emembarrassed.gif

I just wanted to "set the scene" as the whole thing was really surreal..especially the guy next to me, we had this "moment", lol!
I feel like it so easily could've gone a different way..
40.gif


Dee, I'm not sure about that considering my bad luck with cars in the past..but perhaps my luck is turning
5.gif


Thankyou all who took the time to read my long story, and please do share if you have any other similiar stories!
 

Lorelei

Super_Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
Apr 30, 2005
Messages
42,064
Someone was looking after you Bruddah!
 

AdiS

Brilliant_Rock
Joined
Jul 17, 2008
Messages
1,337
Oh AJ, thank God you''re ok!
It''s scary as heck but it''s exactly moments like this that make us realise how precious and fragile life is, isn''t it? I''m not sure if mine counts as a "near miss" because I actually got hit by a car 3 years ago, a speeding car at that. It was a horrific impact and I''m sure all the witnesses expected the worst. But I got up immediately without any help and was fine. A few bruises, a bump on the head. Nothing broken. I was ok. The policeman who ran up to me in shock said it was a miracle. I believe it was.
The realization that strikes you afterwards is more difficult to handle than the accident itself. You start thinking "There, I might''ve been dead by now, or crippled or God knows what." And you start thinking about all the things you wanted to do but didn''t, all the things you wanted to say, places you wanted to go... So you either start feeling sorry for yourself or start living. I chose to live and appreciate life more. I''m trying to remember that determination now that time has passed and it fades a bit.
So, AJ, thank your lucky stars, then take your FI, go out and live
1.gif
 

AGBF

Super_Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
Jan 26, 2003
Messages
22,143
I am so glad that you are all right, AJ!! I am glad that you came here to share the story. I was right there in it with you for every minute. You told it so vividly. I thank God you are OK. And, apparently, so is everyone else this time.


PS-Did you know you are only 38 posts short of 5,000!!?? It doesn't seem possible!

Deborah
34.gif
 

White Orchid

Shiny_Rock
Joined
May 4, 2008
Messages
229
Oh wow, thank goodness you''re alright! What a terrifying experience!
 

HollyS

Ideal_Rock
Joined
Jul 18, 2007
Messages
6,105
Wow! I''m glad you''re okay, just a bit shaken. Your guardian angels were working overtime today, girl!
 

tlh

Ideal_Rock
Joined
Dec 31, 2008
Messages
4,508
I am soo glad you are alright! What a story!
 

Steel

Ideal_Rock
Joined
Jul 8, 2006
Messages
4,884
AJ: I am sorry. You must be scared and shaken up. (Hugs)

I would just mention that if you are aware that you or your vehicle is about to be impacted you should not brace for impact. A relaxed position is less likely to result in injury as a tensed (braced) position. This is often why drunk & drugged drivers walk out of smashes that a sober driver will not. Of course there is an element of dumb luck but try to remain calm when being impacted.

I am having a lot of pain with my foot & ankle this month following my smash a few years back (I was driving my motorcycle and hit side on by an SUV). I have never been the same and find that unless you are in an accident which was cateagorically the other person's fault; it is hard to explain to another person the fear you feel.

I don't know if it is the same for you but I laugh (sarcastically) that learner drivers (ROI) drive unaccompanied to the drivers test centre and if they fail their test they get back in their car and dive home - legally
38.gif
.
 

rainydaze

Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
May 1, 2007
Messages
3,361
wow AJ, what an experience! i am so glad you, and others, are ok.
 

Clairitek

Ideal_Rock
Joined
Jul 21, 2008
Messages
4,881
So glad to hear that you''re OK AJ. What an incredible near miss.
 

natalina

Brilliant_Rock
Joined
Dec 9, 2008
Messages
537
Oh my gosh! So happy you are okay!
 

Kaleigh

Super_Ideal_Rock
Joined
Nov 18, 2004
Messages
29,571
Date: 2/25/2009 6:01:11 AM
Author: Maisie
Wow AJ! I would have been totally shaken up after something like that. I doubt I could have driven home. I am so glad you are ok!!
Ditto!! I am very glad you are ok phew!!!
 

jcarlylew

Ideal_Rock
Joined
Jun 27, 2008
Messages
3,899
arj - thank goodness you were safe!!
 

musey

Super_Ideal_Rock
Joined
Sep 30, 2006
Messages
11,242
Oh my!! Glad you''re okay.
 

Skippy123

Super_Ideal_Rock
Joined
Nov 24, 2006
Messages
24,300
Oh gosh, I am glad you are okay.
 

dragonfly411

Ideal_Rock
Joined
Jun 25, 2007
Messages
7,378
EEEP Thank goodness you are ok!!!
 

Kelli

Ideal_Rock
Joined
May 27, 2008
Messages
5,455
Wow. Thank goodness you didn''t get hit!!!
6.gif
 

arjunajane

Ideal_Rock
Joined
Jan 18, 2008
Messages
9,758
Date: 2/25/2009 7:48:51 AM
Author: AdiS
Oh AJ, thank God you''re ok!
It''s scary as heck but it''s exactly moments like this that make us realise how precious and fragile life is, isn''t it? I''m not sure if mine counts as a ''near miss'' because I actually got hit by a car 3 years ago, a speeding car at that. It was a horrific impact and I''m sure all the witnesses expected the worst. But I got up immediately without any help and was fine. A few bruises, a bump on the head. Nothing broken. I was ok. The policeman who ran up to me in shock said it was a miracle. I believe it was.
The realization that strikes you afterwards is more difficult to handle than the accident itself. You start thinking ''There, I might''ve been dead by now, or crippled or God knows what.'' And you start thinking about all the things you wanted to do but didn''t, all the things you wanted to say, places you wanted to go... So you either start feeling sorry for yourself or start living. I chose to live and appreciate life more. I''m trying to remember that determination now that time has passed and it fades a bit.
So, AJ, thank your lucky stars, then take your FI, go out and live
1.gif
Hi Adis,
wow I can''t believe your story - I am so glad you didn''t get hurt or worse, that is amazing!
Do you know you and I have something very much in common? Almost exactly the same thing happened to me when I was a teen..

I was crossing a road and an elderly couple went through the zebra crossing and cleaned me up - two of my friends behind me watched the whole the thing happen, and they said I went up on the bonnet and then under the car too - I woke up lying on the ground, but was not hurt one bit.
An ambulance came but I didn''t go in it - I just got up and walked to the train station with my friends and got on a train home!

I remember my arm hurt a little and I got a scar from a scrape on my leg, but that was it.
When I woke up in the road, I just remember looking at my friends faces and they were ghostly white - they thought I was dead!
6.gif


Of course it was foolish not to go in the ambulance but I was only 14 or so and didn''t want to get into trouble with my parents!

I was probably also too young to have the kind of realization that you did (still thought I was invincible!), but it definately makes sense to me now.
Thankyou for sharing your story and your wise words, it actually made me remember mine I hadn''t thought or talked about it for so long.
5.gif

That''s exactly what I did when got home yesterday - went straight to Fi for a big cuddle!

See, I meant it about the luck with cars thing!
 

arjunajane

Ideal_Rock
Joined
Jan 18, 2008
Messages
9,758
Date: 2/25/2009 8:03:17 AM
Author: AGBF



I am so glad that you are all right, AJ!! I am glad that you came here to share the story. I was right there in it with you for every minute. You told it so vividly. I thank God you are OK. And, apparently, so is everyone else this time.


PS-Did you know you are only 38 posts short of 5,000!!?? It doesn''t seem possible!

Deborah
34.gif
Hi Deb,
thankyou. That''s why I told it so long, ha..I wanted to include those lil details that made it so weird!
I know, my PS posts..its terrible, lol!
 

arjunajane

Ideal_Rock
Joined
Jan 18, 2008
Messages
9,758
Thankyou White Orchid, HollyS and tlh.



Thankyou Steel - and for the advice - I actually meant I braced myself mentally (I''ve been hit before and knows what it feels like, so I was like "oh s**t, here we go again!)..but I didn''t even have time to react - I still had my hands on the steering wheel when it all stopped !
So I agree with you and have heard that before actually..
I am sorry to hear about your pain from your accident..I understand very well how that kind of thing can affect your life (a big accident my mum was in ages ago).

I can''t believe that about L drivers there! That is def. not the case here, we go with our mums or whatever and so have to go with them, whether we pass or fail!
That just doesn''t seem to make sense
40.gif



Thanks rainydaze, claritek, natalina, kaleigh, jcarlycrew, musey, skippy, dragonfly, and kelli.
Cheers everyone for your kind thoughts and reading my novel
 

katebar

Brilliant_Rock
Joined
Jan 20, 2006
Messages
1,566
AJ how absolutely terrifying for you! You fight or flight response would have kicked in big time and I am sure you are still feeling the effects of such a terrifying ordeal.
make sure you drink heaps of water to get rid of all the chemicals your body produced yesterday and try to lay off the coffee etc or anything else that revs you up.
Also taking some time every so often do just centre yourself and do some deep breathing will have you back to your old self in no time.
+ Lots of lovely nurturing from family and friends.
take care now
 

arjunajane

Ideal_Rock
Joined
Jan 18, 2008
Messages
9,758
Date: 2/26/2009 12:07:38 AM
Author: katebar
AJ how absolutely terrifying for you! You fight or flight response would have kicked in big time and I am sure you are still feeling the effects of such a terrifying ordeal.
make sure you drink heaps of water to get rid of all the chemicals your body produced yesterday and try to lay off the coffee etc or anything else that revs you up.
Also taking some time every so often do just centre yourself and do some deep breathing will have you back to your old self in no time.
+ Lots of lovely nurturing from family and friends.
take care now
Thanks Kate for the thoughts - actually I do have a bad migraine today, not sure if it''s related..but not getting much work done though
40.gif

Thankyou for the post hon.
35.gif
 

OUpearlgirl

Ideal_Rock
Joined
Jun 26, 2007
Messages
3,081
I had a near accident last week!! That feeling is just so scary, when you know that there is nothing you can do and you just have to brace yourself.

I''m so glad you are okay and that no one was critically injured!!
 

Loves Vintage

Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
Nov 19, 2007
Messages
4,568
AJ - I''m glad to hear you''re ok!!
 

arjunajane

Ideal_Rock
Joined
Jan 18, 2008
Messages
9,758
Thankyou OU and LV -
OU, I''m glad to hear yours was only a near accident too.
 

Savvymon

Shiny_Rock
Joined
Sep 16, 2008
Messages
120
ooooooo Im so glad your ok! Thats a truely terrifing near miss!
40.gif


I had a really close call a long time ago, I was walking across a set of lights and just got the green to walk when my instincts kicked in and said STOP!!! I''m truly glad I was listening because I watched as someone ran a red and hit a car that stopped about where I would have been walking.

What Steel said is definatly the truth! I was rear ended by a car and slammed into the car infront of me, I saw it coming in my mirror, thought... oh hell he''s not going to stop! tensed and watched him hit me... damn. I tore my rotar cuff and some other muscle and am still having trouble 6 years down the track. Though even knowing what I know now about tensing I think the instinct is to brace I''d quite possible react the same.
 
Status
Not open for further replies. Please create a new topic or request for this thread to be opened.
Be a part of the community Get 3 HCA Results
Top