I've been driving for about eight years now and this is the result of my very first accident that happened around 6:40am (EST) on December 4, 2008.
I was driving on my way to work coming down a large and windy hill, and all the roads were wet because it had been drizzling. There are a few steep and tight bends on the way down so I'm on my brakes and I'm also watching for any deer and a cat that I see cross the road once in a while. At the bottom is a fairly blind turn and then a small bridge that crosses a small stream. I'm sure I was on the gas again, or at least coasting, to come around the long, wide bend but I couldn't have been more than 5mph over the posted speed limit of 40mph. I don't know, I'm too busy watching the road for any deer. Just as I came out of the bend, my car (which was a 2001 Mitsubishi Eclipse Spyder GT with only 51,000+ miles on it) hit a patch of black ice and I lost control. It swerved one way, then I tried countersteering to stay away from the barriers and I remember seeing my headlights shine on them just before I hit, and I thought, "F*CK!" ...Pardon my language. When I did, three of my four airbags went off, so I couldn't see anything because I automatically shut my eyes, and I don't remember really hearing anything either except slamming into the barriers on my passenger side. I remember telling myself to duck as low as I can because I'm in a convertible and if I land upside down then I need to get my head at least as low as the doors because the roof and windows are going to be crushed. I don't know how much I really ducked with my seatbelt on and the airbag in my face but I didn't know I was upside down until I felt my head hit something, which I'm assuming was part of that barrier that you can see underneath the driver's side a little bit in that one photo (see below). Anyway, after what seemed like slow motion, I opened my eyes and tried pushing the airbag out of my face and thought, "This didn't just happen. It couldn't have happened." As soon as it deflated, I unbuckled myself, turned off the car and looked for my purse which had my cell phone in it. I also noticed my nose was bleeding pretty good but it wasn't painful so I assumed it wasn't broken. I'm sure that was because the airbag hit it. I couldn't find my purse anywhere so I simply opened my door and crawled out yelling for help. People were already stopped on the side of the road nearby and on their phones calling the police so I didn't have to worry about that. The fire police came right away and found my purse so I called my mom who had just arrived at work. She wasn't that freaked out since I was talking with her on the phone and I was coherent but when she got there and saw me in the ambulance (which had shown up about 45 minutes to an hour after the accident), I started to cry. It was pretty emotional, especially since this was my first accident ever. But my brother and two sisters have already totalled their cars in the past (one of which had rolled on the road), so I think my mom has gotten past the panic stage just a tincy bit, heh. One of the paramedics said if I had landed any differently by a few inches or so, things would have been much, much worse. No one could believe that I walked away from that. I still can't believe it myself but I'm sure as heck glad that I did. So I went to the hospital, where there was a rainbow over the building with the sun coming out (which was so weird to me as if it was supposed to be a sign of something), to get x-rays and cat scans and since all I had was a nasty lump on my head (or a "scalp contusion" as the doctor called it) and no broken bones or fractures, they released me and I went home.
Later that night and through Friday to Saturday, I had a pretty sore neck, shoulders and lower back but otherwise I felt great. The bump on my head was probably about the size of the radius of a tennis ball but since I applied ice throughout the day on Thursday, it shrank significantly by Friday. I also had little headaches on and off throughout Friday but they were gone by Saturday. I am not nearly as sore anymore a week later but I still have a bit of a kinked neck when I turn my head too far either way. I also still have small bruises on my knees from the dashboard I assume, and some light bruises on my inner forearms because of the airbag since I was holding on to the steering wheel at the 3 o'clock and 9 o'clock positions. I still have that bump on my head as well; it's smaller now but still painful if I poke it or run a brush over it. And my lower back is still a little sore. I really can't complain considering what could have been. So, of the eight years that I've been driving so far, this was my first accident. I always knew my first one would be more than a fender bender, heh. I like to think that that car did a good job with its protection. Everything just seemed to go right in the worst situation.
By the way, not long after I crashed, another driver slid and his truck hit somewhere on the bridge as well. It busted his radiator and did something else to his passenger side, so he needed a tow truck, too.
This is why I always wear my seat belt, I don't speed, and I don't talk on my phone while I drive. I was VERY lucky to survive and walk away with a couple minor injuries. ...I believe it also helped that I'm short, standing at only five feet and almost two inches tall, heh. I was the last one out of my three siblings to total a car, and we've all miraculously been able to walk away from the accidents...
My car has been deemed a total loss by my insurance company, which makes me sad because I loved that car. It was in great condition with low mileage, but better it than me.
What happened after the accident, you might ask? They simply picked up the barriers that I pushed off and placed them back onto the bridge as if nothing had ever happened. Um... What? How about they add something a little more PERMANENT so that people don't fall off and don't drown! Idiots. Also, while I was in the ambulance at the scene, about an HOUR after my accident, a salt truck came through and salted the road when the black ice was already melted by then. A LITTLE LATE, DUMB@$$ES.
But nothing will change with that bridge until someone, or a few people, DIE. That's what it takes to get something done right around here. And it's ridiculous because this bridge (which is probably about 100 years old) has had a really bad reputation for about twenty or thirty YEARS now when it comes to accidents. Anyone see a pattern yet?Here are some photos my mom took with her cell phone. I was surprised how nice they came out...
My car upside down with the trunk and roof caved in by the concrete barriers. My car is facing the opposite direction I was driving. I was coming down that tight turn in the background toward the bridge:
A closer shot:
You can see the front passenger wheel all bent and smashed where it hit the barriers. I think one of my fog lights is dangling there, too:
The driver's side where I easily crawled out from. I think one of the little back triangle-shaped windows survived. But the rest are all gone, along with the rag-top roof:
My poor car at the garage the Saturday after the accident.
So this is what it looks like right side up. It was really weird to see it when my mom and I pulled off that blue tarp. What a mess. But I must say, it did me well. I took these photos with my digital camera. This is the front driver's side:
The front passenger side. You can clearly see the point of impact with the front wheel. It must have hammered the concrete barriers first and then the whole car just rolled off of the bridge with them:
The rear driver's side:
The rear passenger's side:
Inside the car from the driver's side. I didn't know the passenger side seat airbag deployed but there it is:
And inside the car from the passenger's side. I got a little kick out of Marge's face on my Simpsons steering wheel cover. It's perfect for the amount of damage. Unfortunately, I couldn't get that off. I also couldn't turn on the car to get my three or four CD's out of the stereo in the dash. Oh well:
So that's it. Apparently it's going to take a lot more to keep this BW/Primal fan off her feet.
I'm currently looking for a new car but I have a while to go yet before I buy one. Aye. 
Actually, since I'm such a cat lover, I said it took one of my nine lives. 
Yeah, I guess there are. I don't know what those plans are yet but it makes me wonder.
It feels really good to be alive!
