Long time no see eh?
First... I'd like to say I'm ok. Bruised but ok. Next....
I flipped my husbands truck today on the way into town.
Basically I was passing someone, not accelerating, not swerving and hit a piece of ice. The truck swung widely to the left, then back to the right and then skidded across the lane into the ditch. I had a moment to think "Fuck! I'm gonna hit the trees" and then suddenly I flipped over onto the roof of the car. The flipping is the one thing that's kinda fuzzy. One moment I'm heading for the trees the next "Crap!" and I was rolling. Well, rolled. Thankfully it was one roll and I don't think I'd like to take any more rolls.
Somehow I missed the people I was passing, the guardrail, and the sign post and hurt no one else, or damaged any other property.
It sort of takes a minute for everything to come in on you. For you to realize you were hanging upside down inside your car. Say what you will about people using their earphones while driving, but I'm glad I was. Because it was attached to the earphones and the charge cable I was able to real my phone in sense what I could see in the car made no sense at all to me. It's sort of like your brain won't acknowledge what it's seeing because it's just not right. While I reeled in my phone I thought "How long am I going to have to hang here? I tried to take an account of myself. I honestly thought I'd be in extreme pain because of my back, but no, I felt ok. Luckily for me I'm short and I only had to turn my head aside to not hit the roof. I tried to dial 911 forgetting I had a lock on it and that it had an emergency button. My hands shook. I turned off the car (Why waste the gas I thought) and waited for the phone to work I was picturing what they'd have to do to get me out of the car. I was in a snow berm, not simply upside down. I was thinking I'd have to wait until they could flip the truck to get me out. I finally realize I had to unlock the phone then I had to remember how to get the key pad up.
The nice lady on the phone calmly talked to me and about the time she told me the accident had already been called in I heard people digging. That still almost stuns me. They were digging me out of the snow. She stayed with me until she was sure I was ok and that people really were helping me. Then I called Kwix. I'm sure that was fun for him. "Hi honey, I flipped the truck". We are both cool headed people so after I hung up (I had escaping to do) he stated texting me our insurance info. Nice thought but I certainly didn't have the ability to deal with that at the moment.
Finally people were asking if I was ok, if I could unlock the door. I could, but upside down like I was I couldn't figure it out. It was as if the door lock was a foreign thing. I could get mine, but I couldn't be sure if I was helping, or hindering. Sometime around then my dog climbed from the back and started walking around on the roof. It would have been funnier if it wasn't so... wrong.
Someone managed to get the passenger side door open. Not a lot, but enough for him to see in and get partially inside. That's when I sort of really saw things. The things from the back seat were on the roof, my purse was whole and near, I could see snow and noticed the windshield looked cracked. That wonderful man asked me if I fit out the space he'd climbed in. I looked at him and said "I don't know, I've never tried". Funny now, just true then. Now that things seemed stable and I probably wasn't going to have to take a ride in the truck as they untipped me I undid my belt. I'm sure it was awkward, but it didn't seem difficult. Unhook and climb onto the roof. It helps that the wheel sits kind of close to me for me to reach the peddles, so I wasn't going to crash to the "floor". I crawled free of the wheel and stuff, shoved my phone in my pocket and grabbed my phone. I coaxed the dog out of the car and to one of my saviors. Then I crawled out and helped onto the 3 feet of snow by a nicely dressed man in a long wool coat. Someone nicely put my dog in their car and I headed to the road side. I looked back and saw the truck for the first time and my thought was "Damn, look at the truck!". Not like I didn't know it was going to be upside down, but it was still shocking.
One of my helpers walked me through a quick "Make sure your neck isn't broken" test before putting me in Mr. Wool Coat's car. Apparently one of my helpers was a nurse! I sat there and stared at my phone, lost as to what to do. At some point I called and canceled my doctors appointment. Mr. Wool coat's name was Mike. His was the only name I got despite me thinking I didn't want to be one of those stories where the saved person says "I never got their names". I didn't. I thanked everyone I saw, but didn't think to get their name. A friend suggested I make a banner to put on the roadside and I just might. I wish them life long happiness and all their dreams. They didn't have to stop and didn't have to dig me out. They are all amazing. I know I would have stopped, but what I do and what other people do isn't normally the same.
Near as I can tell, I'm ok. I'm a little sore but ok. Even the dog seems perfectly normal. Both cops get the joke award for the line "Mam, you can't park that there". It was funny at the time and probably gave them an idea of if I was impaired.
I'm betting the truck is totaled. It's a 2002 and I imagine fixing the paint, glass and body alone would almost total it. I hope so, because that'll probably get me a check faster than getting the car fixed would get me a car.
I flipped my husbands truck today on the way into town.
Basically I was passing someone, not accelerating, not swerving and hit a piece of ice. The truck swung widely to the left, then back to the right and then skidded across the lane into the ditch. I had a moment to think "Fuck! I'm gonna hit the trees" and then suddenly I flipped over onto the roof of the car. The flipping is the one thing that's kinda fuzzy. One moment I'm heading for the trees the next "Crap!" and I was rolling. Well, rolled. Thankfully it was one roll and I don't think I'd like to take any more rolls.
Somehow I missed the people I was passing, the guardrail, and the sign post and hurt no one else, or damaged any other property.
It sort of takes a minute for everything to come in on you. For you to realize you were hanging upside down inside your car. Say what you will about people using their earphones while driving, but I'm glad I was. Because it was attached to the earphones and the charge cable I was able to real my phone in sense what I could see in the car made no sense at all to me. It's sort of like your brain won't acknowledge what it's seeing because it's just not right. While I reeled in my phone I thought "How long am I going to have to hang here? I tried to take an account of myself. I honestly thought I'd be in extreme pain because of my back, but no, I felt ok. Luckily for me I'm short and I only had to turn my head aside to not hit the roof. I tried to dial 911 forgetting I had a lock on it and that it had an emergency button. My hands shook. I turned off the car (Why waste the gas I thought) and waited for the phone to work I was picturing what they'd have to do to get me out of the car. I was in a snow berm, not simply upside down. I was thinking I'd have to wait until they could flip the truck to get me out. I finally realize I had to unlock the phone then I had to remember how to get the key pad up.
The nice lady on the phone calmly talked to me and about the time she told me the accident had already been called in I heard people digging. That still almost stuns me. They were digging me out of the snow. She stayed with me until she was sure I was ok and that people really were helping me. Then I called Kwix. I'm sure that was fun for him. "Hi honey, I flipped the truck". We are both cool headed people so after I hung up (I had escaping to do) he stated texting me our insurance info. Nice thought but I certainly didn't have the ability to deal with that at the moment.
Finally people were asking if I was ok, if I could unlock the door. I could, but upside down like I was I couldn't figure it out. It was as if the door lock was a foreign thing. I could get mine, but I couldn't be sure if I was helping, or hindering. Sometime around then my dog climbed from the back and started walking around on the roof. It would have been funnier if it wasn't so... wrong.
Someone managed to get the passenger side door open. Not a lot, but enough for him to see in and get partially inside. That's when I sort of really saw things. The things from the back seat were on the roof, my purse was whole and near, I could see snow and noticed the windshield looked cracked. That wonderful man asked me if I fit out the space he'd climbed in. I looked at him and said "I don't know, I've never tried". Funny now, just true then. Now that things seemed stable and I probably wasn't going to have to take a ride in the truck as they untipped me I undid my belt. I'm sure it was awkward, but it didn't seem difficult. Unhook and climb onto the roof. It helps that the wheel sits kind of close to me for me to reach the peddles, so I wasn't going to crash to the "floor". I crawled free of the wheel and stuff, shoved my phone in my pocket and grabbed my phone. I coaxed the dog out of the car and to one of my saviors. Then I crawled out and helped onto the 3 feet of snow by a nicely dressed man in a long wool coat. Someone nicely put my dog in their car and I headed to the road side. I looked back and saw the truck for the first time and my thought was "Damn, look at the truck!". Not like I didn't know it was going to be upside down, but it was still shocking.
One of my helpers walked me through a quick "Make sure your neck isn't broken" test before putting me in Mr. Wool Coat's car. Apparently one of my helpers was a nurse! I sat there and stared at my phone, lost as to what to do. At some point I called and canceled my doctors appointment. Mr. Wool coat's name was Mike. His was the only name I got despite me thinking I didn't want to be one of those stories where the saved person says "I never got their names". I didn't. I thanked everyone I saw, but didn't think to get their name. A friend suggested I make a banner to put on the roadside and I just might. I wish them life long happiness and all their dreams. They didn't have to stop and didn't have to dig me out. They are all amazing. I know I would have stopped, but what I do and what other people do isn't normally the same.
Near as I can tell, I'm ok. I'm a little sore but ok. Even the dog seems perfectly normal. Both cops get the joke award for the line "Mam, you can't park that there". It was funny at the time and probably gave them an idea of if I was impaired.
I'm betting the truck is totaled. It's a 2002 and I imagine fixing the paint, glass and body alone would almost total it. I hope so, because that'll probably get me a check faster than getting the car fixed would get me a car.