Yesterday, I was riding my bike across 33rd street in South Salt Lake City, and I had to stop at a light. I was waiting there for maybe a minute when a car behind a bronze van that was not moving at the green light honked. Embarrassed, as one only can be in that situation, the van zoomed forward faster than a regular speed while, at the same time, a white truck decided he would run the red light.
You can imagine the result.
Car crash right in front of my eyes. T-boned.
I was standing right there.
I am not entirely sure why, though I have some ideas, but I am very easily started, particularly when loud noises are involved. Needless to say, it was difficult to get back on my bike and ride, though I had a class to get to. My heart was pounding, and I did not know what to do to calm it down.
It appeared that the man in the van was okay, though I could not get a good look. He was moving, at least. His van, however, was totaled. The driver’s side was all the way smashed in. I do not think that any amount of collision repair would help the car. I hope that no one else was in the car with him.
I suppose that I should not have left, given that I was a witness to the accident, but I had to get to class. Plus, I did not know what to do. I had never been witness to anything before.
Once I got to the train station, I frantically called my boyfriend to tell him what had happened. When I called him, he immediately thought that I had been in the accident, though I quickly alleviated his fears. I told him that I was quite shaken up, and he understood. He was glad that I was okay.
Just a few days previous to that, my mom had called me to tell me that she had had a nightmare that I had been T-boned and had ended up in a coma. That did not make me any less freaked out, to be sure.
So, I figured I would also call my mom to tell her about the strange coincidence. I told her the story, and she reprimanded me for not staying at the scene, saying I needed to call the South Salt Lake City police department and schedule a time to give a witness statement.
I do not know about you, but, no matter the situation, the police freak me out. I always feel like I am going to get into trouble, even if I have not done anything wrong.
I did, however, take my mom’s advice. They said that they already had police officers on the scene, but they still wanted me to tell them what happened. I told them about the cars involved and what I had seen. The woman took my name and phone number in case they needed anything else.
It was surprising to me that I was still shaken up about the accident even hours later. I suppose it just goes to show you that the actions of others can seriously affect people, even people that you do not know.
I just hope that everyone directly involved in the incident is okay.
By Kassandra Konecny
Bio:
Though Kassandra Konecny has only begun writing professionally about six months ago, she has been writing creatively for years. Recently, she has worked to become an expert at writing blogs about collision repair in Salt Lake City.