The temperatures were hitting the triple-digit mark that August afternoon as I eased into the fast lane on Interstate 10 East in El Paso, Texas. I’d just gotten off work and was on my way home to study for my chemistry final the next day. It was about 2:30 p.m., and, surprisingly, there wasn’t that much traffic on the freeway. I say “surprisingly” because I-10 in the El Paso area is considered one of the most congested sections of interstate in Texas. I thought I was home free " but I was about to find out otherwise.
I was shocked when a large van veered into my lane from the right, hitting my right-front fender, knocking me out of control and spinning toward the median. It was the most terrifying moment of my life, and I closed my eyes while my car spun out of control. All I could think of was my family and friends as I felt the car sustain several impacts. When everything seemed to stop for a second, I yelled, “Oh, God, I don’t want to die!” " and then felt another hit.
When I opened my eyes, I saw dust or smoke everywhere. I remember running out of my car and looking back at it. I was shocked I was able to walk away from it, or what was left of it. The front and back ends were completely crushed and I couldn’t see the tires.
Several people stopped and a woman came up to me and gave me a wipe to clean my face, which felt numb. She said I had hit her truck.
I was taken to the hospital and released that night. When we got home, my dad received a phone call from the woman driving the truck. She had seen everything and described what happened. She explained that after the van hit my car, it turned and smashed into the median and then spun around and hit her truck head-on. After that impact, my car spun and was hit again by her truck and sent head-on into the median, where it finally stopped. And when she said she was driving a truck, she didn’t mean some pickup. She was behind the wheel of a tractor-trailer hauling a load.
Every time I think back to that day, one thing really sticks in my mind " the dark purple bruises the seat belt made across my chest. I am actually thankful for those bruises because they proved to me how hard my seat belt worked to save my life. I have always been conscious of the importance of seat belts, but I never knew how valuable they could be until that day. Without them, I wouldn’t be here telling this story.
Why Buckling up Matters
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, from 2004 to 2008, seat belts saved more than 75,000 lives " enough people to fill a large sports arena. During a crash, being buckled up helps keep drivers safe and secure inside their vehicles, whereas being thrown out of a vehicle is almost always deadly. Seat belts are the best defense against impaired, aggressive and distracted drivers.
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