Sedan to hatchback in just a few seconds

Some of you have heard that I was involved in a major car accident last night (for those of you who hadn't heard, now you know!). I left work around 7:15 p.m., and was in the left lane heading west on Barton Road approaching the intersection of San Timoteo Canyon Road when I saw a car swerve to my right and looked in my rear view mirror to see a blue Ford pickup truck bearing down on me way too fast. By the time I saw him, there was no time to get out of his way and I knew I was going to be hit hard. I suspect that the driver was not in control of the vehicle, because he didn't make any apparent attempt to slow or stop (there was no sound of brakes being applied at any time).

A second or two later there was a deafening crash and my car seemed to explode - the back windshield shattered, glass and coins from the ashtray (which had opened on impact) flew everywhere, and my seat back was thrown all the way backward, slamming into the car seat behind me (thank God Emmy wasn't in the car!). Knowing there was a car ahead of me in each lane, I braced for a second impact. All I remember thinking was "I may not survive this." Miraculously, my car shot like an arrow straight between the two cars without so much as grazing either one. When I regained control of the vehicle a few seconds later, I was already nearly a quarter of a mile from the scene of the impact. I sat up and saw that I was in the middle of the road with no cars near me, still moving at a good clip. I applied the brakes, pulled over to the side of the road and stopped. Here's a pic of my car taken today at the tow lot to satisfy your morbid curiosity. ;-)

The good news is that aside from whiplash and some nasty bruises on my calves, I'm just fine. The bad news is that the guy who hit me didn't fare nearly as well. After rear-ending me, his car careened off the road (also miraculously hitting no one else) and hit a concrete block wall that borders a construction site. He was not wearing a seatbelt, and his head hit the windshield hard enough to make a rather large hole in it (the windshield - though the guy had a good-sized hole in his head as well). He was in critical condition when the ambulance arrived, and the police said they were told that he wasn't expected to survive. We learned from the Redlands Daily Facts that he was taken to LLUMC where a coma was induced, and from the City of Redlands that the driver was 67 and from Mentone. Here's a pic of his truck.

The wreck was treated as a fatal injury accident - the police closed down the intersection for hours to take photos and measurements. It took them two hours just to get around to photographing my car and interviewing me about what had happened. At that time, they did breathalizer and blood tests on me (and indicated their intent to do the same on him if he was still alive by the time they got to the hospital).

The fact that my car was totaled seems a minor inconvenience when I consider how much worse it could have been. I thank God that I'm still alive, and that no one else was hurt. Please keep this poor man (I'm going to try to find out how he's doing and will post the info as soon as I know) and his family in your prayers.