One collision, nearly head-on, at about 40 mph with a conversion van, I was driving a Sunbird weighing less than half of the van. No air bags in my car, just a seat belt. The front end of my car was swayed almost twelve inches. After the initial impact the van continued on its way, spinning my car like a toy, which hit the van again, this time with the left rear of my car.
At the time it became apparent that a collision was inevitable, I do recall screaming “Oh my God!” It was over a few seconds or so later, I guess. My car was wrecked but I got out of the car without a scratch. Other than residual back problems, I escaped unscathed. No one seeing the wrecked car or witnessing the collision could believe I had survived.
Spooky one: I was between colleges and working the closing shift at a fast food place one summer. A bunch of high school kids, one who worked there, asked me to give them a ride to a party after work. We all piled into my mom’s very sporty Cavalier Type 10 and were on our way.
We were on a quiet two lane stopped at a red light when an older, full size rwd V8 pulled up next to us in the right turn lane, but did not turn. Looking like he wanted to race, foolishly I did not let him down. The light went green and we both went out hot, but I couldn’t keep up with him and he beat us pretty badly. In another brain surgeon move, I decided to try to pass this guy. On a double yellow. Up a hill. As we crested the hill, I saw the headlights of another car closing on us rapidly in our lane from seemingly about five or so feet away. When the headlights were so close they bathed the interior of our car with a bright white light, I turned hard to the right and somehow, miraculously, IMHO, missed everybody. No one in the car ever said a word about the incident at the time and all refused to ever discuss it.
Then there was the summer night when my parents kicked me out of the house while I was wearing nothing more than a pair of shorts. They locked and bolted all the windows and doors and refused to give me the keys to my car. Too embarassed to knock on a neighbor’s door, I decided to try to sleep in a shelter in a park close by, but it was too cold, in the 50’s. I returned to my parent’s house hoping to find an unlocked door but no luck. Not realising the risk of exposure, I was too scared to ring the door bell or try to break in, figuring my parents would call the cops. I went to the back of the house and slept on the concrete patio, luckily finding a single ply garbage bag which I slept in all night. I remember when I stopped shivering and stopped feeling cold. The next morning I was shaking like a leaf. My mother let me in and I ran to the bathroom but could not feel the temperature of the water in the shower. So, I fell asleep on a couch under a mountain of blankets.
I found an apartment that afternoon and moved out within two days.
