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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

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Liz: I Was In Scanner Traffic Crash

Liz: My son was in the car with me and that is the most horrible part. I keep thinking about what could have happened and mentally reliving the whole thing over and over. Thing is neither car was going that fast. I was late getting my son to school and failed to look both ways before proceeding at the intersection. Next thing I know I feel the impact and the car is flipping over. Nate and I were hanging upside down in the seatbelts and couldn't get out. The car slid half a block upside down and I think it hit a parked vehicle. The owner of the vehicle and the house it was parked in front of thought it was going to keep going into his house apparently. I am still very, very shaken up. I have been in accidents before but never a rollover and never one where I was at fault. Full post below.

Question: Have you ever been involved in an incident that appeared in Scanner Traffic?

Yes, I am glad we are OK too. My son was in the car with me and that is the most horrible part. I keep thinking about what could have happened and mentally reliving the whole thing over and over. Thing is neither car was going that fast. I was late getting my son to school and failed to look both ways before proceeding at the intersection. Next thing I know I feel the impact and the car is flipping over. Nate and I were hanging upside down in the seatbelts and couldn't get out. The car slid half a block upside down and I think it hit a parked vehicle. The owner of the vehicle and the house it was parked in front of thought it was going to keep going into his house apparently. I am still very, very shaken up. I have been in accidents before but never a rollover and never one where I was at fault. (one I was a passenger and the other was totally the other driver. In fact in that one my quick thinking prevented it from being much worse.) Not so this one. Totally my fault.

So here I am with my neck on an ice bag, hyped up on enough ibuprofin to bore a hole in my stomach and learning what it is like to have PTSD just a little bit. I feel incredibly guilty because it was totally my fault. The fact the car flipped was just a fluke. I was told it is very rare in these types of intersection accidents where nobody is going too fast. The other cars hood was shaped like a wedge and just flipped mine over like a pancake turner. Maybe the rain had something to do with it too; I don't know.

I keep going over the “what if” scenarios in my mind; especially since my kid was in the car with me.



D.F. Oliveria
D.F. (Dave) Oliveria joined The Spokesman-Review in 1984. He currently is a columnist and compiles the Huckleberries Online blog and writes about North Idaho in his Huckleberries column.

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