I am extremely fortunate to have the ability to crash at my sister's house on days that I have class. She lives about 30 minutes from UCSD and 25 minutes from CSUSM, and the location is a prime spot for someone like me who loves to sleep in. 😉 I decided to drive down to San Diego a few days early so that I could participate in an American Indian community meeting and a tribal school campus visit, which were scheduled Thursday and Friday, respectively. As always, the drive to down was beautiful. I always take a route that involves driving on Interstate 5, primarily so that I can view the ocean on my way down. San Diego is just so beautiful, and who wouldn't want to have ocean views for the majority of their drive?
Upon arrival, I asked my sister if she wanted to go with me to view a few apartments I had researched. I fully intend on making San Diego County my home, and I wanted to start looking for a new apartment. So, after putting my belongings away, we hopped in my car and ventured off to Oceanside to look for three apartments that I had viewed online. Let me just say, whoever they hired to take photographs of their properties are geniuses. They made the properties look super cozy and updated, but upon arrival at each one, I was disappointed to see that they were rather run down, and not in areas that I could see myself living. We didn't even get off of the car to look at the apartments, the outside was telling enough, and I knew they weren't the places for me.
After stopping at the last location, we decided to make the drive to Escondido to look at a few
other apartments I had found, and that were located - fortunately - on the same street. As we drove down the highway, we engaged in our usual conversation about family, life, school, and research. I really enjoy spending time with my sister. As we've gotten older, and after our two years of taking classes at UCLA together, we have grown closer. I love visiting with her, and I think she likes my visits too. The quality time that we spend together is something that I really look forward to each time I visit.
As we headed to Escondido, we had reached a point on the highway where it was coming to an end and would turn into a street. I was diligently paying attention, because I had made a wrong turn earlier, and didn't want to make another mistake. We had come to a complete stop and, since we were only half a mile from the end of the freeway, I can only assume that traffic had stopped because of the stop light at the end of the highway was red. I can honestly say, we were at a moment of relaxation in our commute, and then everything changed.
As we headed to Escondido, we had reached a point on the highway where it was coming to an end and would turn into a street. I was diligently paying attention, because I had made a wrong turn earlier, and didn't want to make another mistake. We had come to a complete stop and, since we were only half a mile from the end of the freeway, I can only assume that traffic had stopped because of the stop light at the end of the highway was red. I can honestly say, we were at a moment of relaxation in our commute, and then everything changed.
In a split second, my sister and I were spinning. Literally spinning! We had been rear-ended
AND side-swiped. We were hit so hard that my car spun, clipped another vehicle, and landed in the other lane. I cannot even begin to accurately explain what happened because it was so sudden. I recall being hit from behind, feeling like a bomb had exploded IN MY CAR, then spinning out of control, and just stopping. For a moment, everything was black, and when I came to - after realizing I was laying down - I had a feeling that I couldn't get up, but then I remembered I wasn't alone. I remembered that my sister was with me, and I forced myself to sit up and turn to her. I was terrified because all I saw were the side airbags covering my sister. She had taken the brunt of the accident, and I was terrified that she had been harmed beyond repair. I moved the airbags, and she was awake, but in shock of the accident and recovering from the impact of the side-swipe. Once I realized she was alive, I jumped into action.
Many people are unaware that I was involved in a hit and run accident in 2012 that resulted in
my car being totaled. I had been driving home to Norwalk on the 60 freeway, and a car rear-ended me, shoving my car into the car in front of me. The responsible party pulled off to the side of the road, picked up the debris from his car, and took off. I was left on the side of the road with the woman who I was pushed into, and she was reassuring me that I was not responsible. This accident taught me that people flee, and I wasn't about to let that happen this time. I immediately began taking pictures of the car, and looked for the vehicle who had hit us. When I finally did see her, I was filled with rage. She had stopped at least a quarter of a mile up the road, and I wonder if she had intended to flee.
The rest of the story is long, but ultimately, the woman who almost killed us allegedly didn’t
even realize that she had hit us!!! I can only assume she was "playing dumb" in an effort to not claim fault for the accident. Personally, I think that she was on something or had been texting. Both my sister and I had some injuries from the accident. Both side windows, as well as the back windshield, had shattered. My sister had several small cuts, and I ended up with one on my right hand. Somehow I also received an abrasion and cuts on my left inner elbow area, which now is healing into a scar. My sister ended up with SEVERE bruising from the seatbelt on her upper thighs. We each had really bad neck pain and back pain. We did go to urgent care, but they were not much help. Aside from a steroid injection for me, and some pain medication and muscle relaxers for both of us, we didn't receive much treatment. I think I may have hit my head on the steering wheel (hence the seeing black and stars after the impact) because I extreme aching on the right side of my forehead, and several people told me it was protruding.
The rest of the story is long, but ultimately, the woman who almost killed us allegedly didn’t
Looking back on the photographs from the scene of the accident, as well as the car at the tow
yard the next day, I have to say that my sister and I are so lucky to be alive! I received a copy of the police report that documented the accident, and I was confused and angry. I was confused because they didn’t note the impact on the passenger side of the car. I was LIVID that she didn’t receive a citation for the vehicle code violation and that they didn’t do a sobriety test on her. The lady was clearly on something. I was also shocked to see that she self-reported a speed of 50 miles per hour. The damage to my car, and the fact that my brother pointed out that my car only left one set of skid marks (meaning that at one point we had to be on two weeks), makes me think she was going much faster than 50 mph. One of the witnesses who stopped to assist us said that whatever I did, as far as defensive driving, saved our lives. I can only assume that she saw the car on two wheels, and that my safe driving skills somehow prevented us from rolling. The other shocking discovery was that the other driver’s skid marks, indicating when she began braking, didn’t even start until at least 6 feet after my car veered off to the left side of the road. I wonder if she even attempted to stop once she hit us, or only stopped to prevent herself from driving off the road and into the vehicles in the exiting lane of the highway.
Needless to say, my car was totaled. I have included a few pictures for reference. You can clearly see that there is no coming back from this accident for my car. The inside was just as broken as the outside, and I don’t know how the car didn’t break into pieces after the accident. It is heartbreaking to me. My car symbolized years of hard work. I endured a lot of harassment and ridicule at work in order to earn an income to pay for my Prius, and I loved her (yes, my car was female). Don’t get me wrong, I am extremely grateful to be alive, and I am so grateful that my sister was not hurt. She is not just my sister, but is one of my dearest friends and a wonderful mentor. To lose her would have been devastating for everyone who has ever crossed paths with her. Theresa and I managed to maintain a sense of humor about the entire ordeal, laughter and humor is our coping mechanism, but it was really scary for us both. We both have talked about how blessed we are to have survived. I really hope that this woman learned something from this accident. I personally, have become an even slower driver. In fact, I probably drive like a little old lady now. And with that, I’ll say, see you later!
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