Monday afternoon I was heading down to my mom's house to work on the basement remodeling project my brother and I have planned. Just down the street from her house on Route 195, a cat ran right in front of my car. I know you're not supposed to swerve, but it was completely reflex. I'm a cat person and I really didn't want to hit that cat, but the thwunk sound on the undercarriage let me know that I had failed to avoid it... But I didn't have time to think about that because at this point the car lost traction. I swung the wheel left, then right trying to regain control.
There's a moment right before impact, right when you know you're not gonna avoid it. At this moment you think, "Fuck, this is going to suck." You think, "Well I'll be needing a new car cuz this one's going to be fuuuucked up." You think, "I wonder if the airbags are going to go off." Then it's all impact.
The car caught the edge of the road, spun around, and bounced off a tree. Suddenly I found myself with a whole bunch of canvas in my lap. The car was filled with smoke and it smelled like firecrackers. Airbags utilize an explosive charge, that's how they fill up so fast. The smoke was still pouring out of flaps in the heap of canvas in my lap. The windshield was smashed and bits of glass were everywhere.
I wanted out of the wreck, but my door would not open. It had been wedged shut in the twisted metal. I remember thinking, "I might have to climb out of the back door," but I can't remember if I did or not. Somehow I found myself on the side of the road. I grabbed my phone and called my mom, then I called 911, then I forgot that I called my mom and called her again. Passing motorists kept stopping and asking me if I was ok. I said yes.
Within a minute or two I heard the sirens. An ambulance and several police cars pulled up and suddenly the area was alive with activity. A paramedic came up to me and inspected my hand which was trickling a small amount of blood. He wrapped my hand in an excessive amount of gauze and asked me all sorts of questions. Meanwhile a police officer asked for my license and reached into the glove box for the registration. He took them to his car to process.
A wrecker showed up and dragged the car off the side of the road with some sort of quick jack. The paramedic commented, "It's amazing what they can do with wreckers these days." Then the car was towed off down the street.
It was right about this time that my mom and brother arrived at the scene. My mom gave me a big hug and I burst into tears suddenly realizing what had caused the wreck in the first place. "I hit a cat," I sobbed.
