Scary Moments

So, I got in my first major car wreck last night. I was driving straight, and someone turned left (on a yield on green) and slammed into my car right at the front left tire (driver's side), totaling both of our cars. I remember the hit, but there was about a one second moment immediately after that I don't remember (the airbags deploying, me coming to a sudden stop, etc.). My first thought afterwards was "am I hurt?", but I felt okay, so I went to get out of the car. Of course, I couldn't on my side (there was a car there), so I climbed out my passenger side door. It was only then that I realized that my hat and hair tie had come off/out without me even noticing. That kinda struck me.

I ended up getting checked out at the hospital (they convinced me to go), but it was mostly superficial; my right knee was cut open and is swollen (hard to walk without a limp, but the pain meds help a lot), a few superficial cuts or scrapes (left hand got cut from the airbag throwing it, inside of my left arm), and a rope burn-like effect on my left shoulder at the collar bone (seat belt).

While the other driver had to be taken away via stretcher (and we actually had to share one ambulance / hallway at the hospital, as it was a busy night), the paramedics told me that she was basically okay (some arm pain), and that it was mostly mental. So even though she told them that I ran a red light and hit her, I'm glad she's okay. I don't want anyone injured. (Good note, though, is that the police also told me on the scene that as far as they could tell, I wasn't at fault.)

Stuff is getting resolved as of today. Dealing with insurance, etc. However, that split second prior to impact, I had a feeling of fear mixed with awe at the stupidity of the other driver's turn. It was the closest I've felt to dying since the time I was attacked by a guy with a knife (and cut a couple of times) about eight years ago.

But that's a whole 'nother story. It relates, however, to what I wanted to ask. Anyone else have moments where they felt fear like this? Like, any "I might be about to die?" moments? Just curious.

(Side question: I can still see the moment of impact with the other car very clearly. Like, really clearly. The moment of impact just before the one second or so that I don't remember. Is this normal for bad car accidents? As I said, I've never been in one prior to yesterday.)

No, I get the annoying time dilation effect, where something seems to take forever, but everything, including my reactions are slow.

JamesonCourage said:

But that's a whole 'nother story. It relates, however, to what I wanted to ask. Anyone else have moments where they felt fear like this? Like, any "I might be about to die?" moments? Just curious.

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Had a few, notably:

1) been face to face with an annoyed rattlesnake on a stump that I absolutely did not see.

2) been held underwater until nearly unconscious as "a prank".

3) nearly choked to death in an empty room while on detention.

4) been in a car wreck in which my car was airborne and accordioned.

5) narrowly avoided a wreck as a semi going the other direction on the freeway lost its load of trimmed tree logs, and one tumbled onto my side of the freeway going end over end over my car.

(Side question: I can still see the moment of impact with the other car very clearly. Like, really clearly. The moment of impact just before the one second or so that I don't remember. Is this normal for bad car accidents? As I said, I've never been in one prior to yesterday.)

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Very normal. When I got in that "accordion" wreck, I had vivid recollections of it as it happened, as well as night-terrors about what would have happened had the wreck occurred 2 minutes further down my route when I would have been going on a sky-high interchange from one freeway to another. As in, falling to my death.

Dannyalcatraz said:

Had a few, notably:

1) been face to face with an annoyed rattlesnake on a stump that I absolutely did not see

2) been held underwater until nearly unconscious as "a prank"

3) been in a car wreck in which my car was airborne and accordioned

4) narrowly avoided a wreck as a semi going the other direction on the freeway lost its load of trimmed tree logs, and one tumbled onto my side of he freeway going end over end over my car

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The last one is movie-like! Wow, most of those do sound pretty scary. Probably especially the drowning one, if only because the feeling of helplessness was more prolonged, and that always seems to amplify fear.

Dannyalcatraz said:

Very normal. When I got in my worst wreck, I had vivid recollections of it as it happened, as well as night-terrors about what would have happened had the wreck occurred 2 minutes further down my route when I would have been going on a sky-high interchange from one freeway to another. As in, falling to my death.

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I hope that doesn't happen to me! I have noticed I'm remembering more often than I consciously choose to think about it, but I'm not getting any other side effects yet. I think I'm okay mentally to drive, still, but it'll be interesting to see if I have any hangups once I actually hit the road again.

sabrinathecat said:

No, I get the annoying time dilation effect, where something seems to take forever, but everything, including my reactions are slow.

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This happened when I got attacked by the guy with the knife, though my mental processes were working pretty quickly, too. Definitely faster than yesterday prior to the wreck, though. Yesterday, I had enough time to think "should I swerve?", but not enough time to actually do it. Probably a good thing, though, as if I had swerved left, we would've hit more head-on, and if I swerved right, they could have hit my driver's side door, rather than the tire, which could've been a lot worse for me.

With the knife incident, I had a crowbar on me, and I swung back. I remember everything being really slow, and thinking "what's the best place to take him down in one swing?" my first thought was "hit him in the head." I changed my mind mid swing, thinking "the legs are a bigger target, and will work. Hit him in the legs." Which I did. But I got all of that thinking in during one swing, as my mind was apparently working much faster. Not really the case with the car wreck, as I said. Wonder why that is.

I had a car crash because I was very drowsy. I essentially woke up to a honking horn and an almost literal light at the end of the tunnel image from the headlights of the much larger car speeding towards me. It was definitely a life or death moment in which I was spared due to quick reactions by myself and perhaps the other driver.

I got out and was immediately at the other person's door asking him if he was okay and I never went to the hospital, but I did apparently suffer a head injury and also had significant posttraumatic symptoms.

I'm still living with the physical and psychological effects ten years later, so I hope it goes better for you.

(Side question: I can still see the moment of impact with the other car very clearly. Like, really clearly. The moment of impact just before the one second or so that I don't remember. Is this normal for bad car accidents? As I said, I've never been in one prior to yesterday.)

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Personally I don't remember the moment of impact and my recollections of the whole thing are somewhat fragmented. I took a blow to the head. Extreme stress does strange things to memory, and can enhance or suppress it, and head injuries obviously can mess you up.

Ahnehnois said:

I had a car crash because I was very drowsy. I essentially woke up to a honking horn and an almost literal light at the end of the tunnel image from the headlights of the much larger car speeding towards me. It was definitely a life or death moment in which I was spared due to quick reactions by myself and perhaps the other driver.

I got out and was immediately at the other person's door asking him if he was okay and I never went to the hospital, but I did apparently suffer a head injury and also had significant posttraumatic symptoms.

I'm still living with the physical and psychological effects ten years later, so I hope it goes better for you.

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Oh, ouch. That sucks, man. I can see how having that happen early on in your driving career could really affect you, too. Luckily my "wounds" seem pretty well superficial other than my knee, but I think it'll get better with time.

Ahnehnois said:

Personally I don't remember the moment of impact and my recollections of the whole thing are somewhat fragmented. I took a blow to the head. Extreme stress does strange things to memory, and can enhance or suppress it, and head injuries obviously can mess you up.

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Yeah. The fire department / paramedics must've asked about my head about six to eight times. I was shaken up, but I didn't have blood there, had no pain there, and had no reason to think I'd hit it (airbags and seatbelts are a good thing) other than maybe that one second I missed out on.

My guess is I just got momentarily dazed, though. Much better than a head injury. Sorry to hear about yours. Like I said, all told, I'm pretty lucky. Just need to get a new car, as I need it for work. And that's going to suck, because I won't get much for mine (it was a 2002 Saturn), even though it was a good car (only normal maintenance like brakes or oil changes, 38-40 miles per gallon, good condition inside and out, etc.).

Could be way worse, though. I do consider myself lucky.

Mad_Jack said:

Yeah, that's often par for the course - memories formed under stressful situations tend to be very vivid.

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Well, at least it seems pretty normal.

Mad_Jack said:

I can still clearly remember every moment of the time I flipped my car onto it's roof off a 10-ft. embankment doing 70mph on the interstate, up until halfway through my flight when the G-forces put my lights out for a second. (Note to self: scratch "learn to fly fighter jets" off of bucket list - you just ain't built for it...) And that was all the way back in '99...

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Haha, wow. That sounds intense.

Mad_Jack said:

In fact, I have fairly clear memories of quite a few dangerous or violent events in my life - I'm one of those people who goes into "bullet time" when my brain has enough time to begin to register that something dangerous is about to happen. Everything slows down and I can vividly see everything no matter how inconsequential as though I was focusing all my attention on it... And yeah, I often find myself saying, even as things are going to hell around me, "What the hell was that guy thinking, doing/trying to do X?"...

However, even when I've been in situations where I was highly aware it was possible - even likely - that I might die, I've never really felt fear... At least not in the moment. After the fact, yeah, sometimes I feel a brief flash of slight fear that I almost died, but never as it's happening.

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Yeah, I was wondering who was going to do the "I don't feel fear" thing, but you nicely sidestepped that. I definitely felt fear in the moment in both of my situations, but the feelings after the knife incident were much more intense than during it. During the wreck, though, it was a brief flash of fear and awe at stupidity just before the wreck, followed by concern (for myself and others) right after.

JamesonCourage said:

My guess is I just got momentarily dazed, though. Much better than a head injury. Sorry to hear about yours. Like I said, all told, I'm pretty lucky. Just need to get a new car, as I need it for work. And that's going to suck, because I won't get much for mine (it was a 2002 Saturn), even though it was a good car (only normal maintenance like brakes or oil changes, 38-40 miles per gallon, good condition inside and out, etc.).

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Hm. Mine was also a Saturn. No wonder they went out of business.

Regarding head injuries, I did not realize mine until well afterwards when I found a large bruise somewhat hidden next to my ear, perhaps having hit the attachment for the seat belt. Regardless, concussions are caused more by the brain impacting the skull than by anything from outside, so I would still be vigilant about it.

Sudden movements can also cause whiplash and a variety of subtle musculoskeletal problems that are not obvious and can become chronic, so believe me, you want to take care of anything you feel sooner rather than later.

Ahnehnois said:

Hm. Mine was also a Saturn. No wonder they went out of business.

Regarding head injuries, I did not realize mine until well afterwards when I found a large bruise somewhat hidden next to my ear, perhaps having hit the attachment for the seat belt. Regardless, concussions are caused more by the brain impacting the skull than by anything from outside, so I would still be vigilant about it.

Sudden movements can also cause whiplash and a variety of subtle musculoskeletal problems that are not obvious and can become chronic, so believe me, you want to take care of anything you feel sooner rather than later.

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Yeah, I'll keep an eye on things. Looks pretty good right now, but you never know. I'm normally not one to even take medication, but I kinda felt that a car wreck was a little different.