My left arm hurts, but otherwise I seem ok. My car, however, didn’t fare so well. It looked almost new earlier this Friday despite being a 2007 model.
I took a left turn at a busy intersection. The light was green, three cars went in front of me, and a few more in the adjacent lane. I got most of the way through. Then it went something like this:
Why does my arm hurt? Why is the left window now opaque? Why is everything suddenly a bit quieter than it was a moment ago? What does the left side of my face feel? Why am I looking at the road I just came from? Why do I smell something like gunpowder?
Oh. Crap.
Somehow during all of that, I pushed in the clutch so the engine was still running. I had to get out through the passenger side door. I was a bit dazed and became a little jittery after a while. I didn’t realize there was an airbag in the side of the seat until I saw the aftermath.
There were people turning left to go the direction I was going just prior to turning left myself who were kind enough to ask if I needed help. For some reason, they were all women. If wasn’t so dazed I might have tried to get a name. One even parked nearby and stayed for a while. Bad time for a good excuse.
The emergency responders were friendly people, too. The first cop I talked with seemed pretty jovial. He noticed the shirt I was wearing and we got to talking about science fiction shows. (Unlike my arm, the shirt appears to be unscathed.) He turned out to be a Firefly fan, and apologized for geeking out. I’m not sure why; there is a reason I got the shirt.
I tore away one of the airbags so I could see out the left window. They are a bit abrasive, but no further injuries from that task. The jovial cop even offered a knife. I was able to drive home, but I won’t be going far, if anywhere, in the car until it gets fixed. I hope its frame isn’t damaged; it sure did prove sturdy, though. Since the impact occurred during the turn, my car must have spun more than 180 degrees but didn’t quite end up facing the exact opposite direction for that side of the road.
Jovian Outpost 