#Tuestimony
I survived a self-initiated and self-involved severe car crash without a scratch and without legal trouble... while under the influence of alcohol. Oh, and there were no airbags and I wasnt wearing a seatbelt.
**DISCLAIMER: While the outcome of the following story is praise-worthy, the experience I endured is that of shame. This is not a story of glory.**
I was 17 years old, hanging out with some friends. I left my car at my buddy's house -- let's call him "John" -- and rode with him to a club. We drank a lot of alcohol that night. At least... I know that I did. At 2am when the club closed, we had to leave (of course). We stopped somewhere to eat and we got back to John's house a lil after 3am. John asked me if I needed to crash at his place or if I wanted him to take me to my place and just get my car the next day. I said... "Nah Im good to drive." He said OKAY and told me to text him when I got home. I hopped in my car and left.
I made to Chippenham Pkwy and headed Southbound. *NOTE: This was already the start of disaster, as the route to my place from John's place was North on Chippenham.* Okay, so... I made it a few miles on Chippenham South to where it connects to Interstate 95. I decided to get on 95North. After a short while on 95N, I realized that I was not heading home and I needed to go the other way to make it back to Chippenham North. So, I got off on an unfamiliar exit (Bells Road). BUT... in my intoxicated state... after making it onto Bells Road, I didnt navigate to find the 95South entrance. Instead... I made a u-turn and came back up on the same exit ramp I had gotten off on. So at that point, I was traveling Southbound but I was actually back on 95North. Soon after getting back on 95, I started to see cars coming toward me in my same lane; I saw them flashing lights, I heard them blowing horns, I noticed them swerving to avoid head-on collisions with me. Then I had the "Ah ha" moment... and I realized I was driving the wrong way down the highway. I immediately made a plan that I was going to turn my car around, get off on Bells Road exit again, and get on 95 South the correct way. However, I didnt think about how to safely and properly execute that plan. In fact, I dont think I thought about much of anything, seeing as how I was wayyy intoxicated. Anyhoo, I ended up trying to make a u-turn...... in the middle of the highway...... WITHOUT slowing down. Keep in mind... I was driving at least 55mph, as I was on a highway. And I just turned my steering wheel to the left as hard as I could, because that's how u make u-turns. And of course... that didnt work out so well!
I ended up skidding across all the lanes and slammed directly into metal rail wall on the right side of the highway (from the view if you are correctly driving North on 95N)... the impact from that knocked my car back across the 3 lanes into the concrete median wall that separates North/South traffic... and the impact from that middle wall knocked me again to the right-side metal rail wall. That's when the car finally stopped -- on the side of the road, away from traffic lanes, and the car had spun to face North (the correct direction).
My car was TOTALLED! I mean, nearly the front half of my car came off during the crash(es). The front of my car was now the radiator (bent and dented). The other pieces were scattered across the highway lanes. Keep in mind, I didnt have on a seatbelt and the car didnt have airbags. **Oh btw... I was driving a 1990 Honda Civic CRX. It's a 2-seater with a trunk... no back seat!! <<That's how small this car was!!** After 'gathering' myself together from the shock, awe, and terrifying experience I just had, I got out the car and looked at myself up and down and tried to focus to see if I could feel pain or bleeding anywhere. Nope... I wasnt injured at all. I looked around on the highway to see if I caused any other crashes and what not. Nope... no cars were around. So, I gathered my car pieces from the road and dragged them over to where I was on the side.
I called John and told him I crashed and asked him to come get me and take me home. The effects of alcohol had my mind going in and out of making sense. John asked me where I crashed/where I was... and I couldnt tell him. For some reason... at that moment... I couldnt remember the highway I was on, which direction I was headed in, or anything else. In John's mind, he thought I was somewhere on Chippenham North (which is where I should have been because that was the route from his house to mine). So, he asked me to describe what I could see, the last exit I remember passing, any mile markers...anything to give him clues. Keep in mind, it was now like 330am. I looked around and didnt see any highwah signs at all (they were probably there though and I just didnt notice). What I did see, though, was a whole lot of smoke coming from the tops of buildings. And I could see a section of buildings all lit up. John said "Perfect. You must be on 95 near the Bells Road exit, because that's where you can clearly see the factory. Im on my way." It took him maybe 15minutes to get there. During that time, I called my parents to tell them what happened. **SIDEBAR: They were so scared/worried for me that night and relieved that I was OKAY. But oh boy two days later... the way they got on me, I thought they were gonna finish the job and kill me themselves!!** After calling Mom & Dad that night... I just prayed and thanked God I was alive.... not only alive, but unscathed! I mean... I had super-tears crying as I praised God for my life and the fact that I didnt hurt anyone else. I mean... I legitimately almost went overboard with my prayer (if that's poss)... cuz I started to kneel down on the ground behind my car. But then I quickly realized that might not be the safest thing to do... so I just sat inside my car and prayed until John got there.
The next day I prepared myself for the worst legal ramifications. I just knew I was gonna get in some kind of trouble. I called a tow company and asked if they could pick my car up from the highway and deliver it to my house. I expected all kinds of questions for a report... thinking a tow company wouldnt just pick up a random car without having any info about why it was there, how it got there, or what happened to it. But nope. The tow-man just grabbed it and brought it to my house... no questions asked... no police involvement. Just a $90 tow fee. I was like "Wowwww!!!"
Perhaps some will say that my experience was all just happenstance. But I dont believe that. There was way too much involved for me to believe that it was ALL coincidence. I know God was all up in that! For me, it was a reminder that God had a plan for my life. And although I didnt go Super Saint immediately afterward, it helped me build my Faith and live my purpose.
*Dont drink & drive. It's not worth it. Uber, Lyft, Taxi, DD