My Actual Thursday Pick Me Up

Yesterday at about 12:30 pm I was driving on the expressway when out of nowhere we were enveloped in a whiteout. If you don't live in a place with frequent or heavy snowfall, a whiteout is exactly what it sounds like, snow falling so hard you can't see within 10 foot of you. Obviously I slowed down to about 15 mph with the assumption that it would be over soon. After about 30 seconds of driving this slow, I saw two vehicles in the ditch and brake lights in front of me. I stopped my car completely to see that two semi's had created a barrier where cars were essentially being funneled into. I saw car after car drive past me and smash into the guard rails, the semi's, and one another. I was sitting in the middle of the lanes with my car in park now, when I was hit in the rear and then again in the front driver's side quarter. I looked out my window to see that a semi was coming towards me and was bracing myself for that terrible impact. Miraculously though, the semi driver was able to gain control of his vehicle and pull far enough to the side to avoid hitting me.

After the initial shock and the whiteout had passed, everyone began stepping out of their vehicles to check on one another and assess the damage. 

 

These are the two cars that hit me. The gray car to the left hit me in the rear and the other vehicle hit me in the front corner. You can't tell from the pictures, but both vehicles had to be towed away and were not driveable. The passenger side of the trail blazer was smashed and the entire back end of the gray car was totaled. 

 

This is the only serious damage that was caused to my car. I was extremely fortunate to have driven away from this accident. 

I had to pull my car off to the side to allow for the ambulance to get through. This is a shot of how close I was to the semi still after moving my car.

 

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These photos show what was directly in front of me (after some cars were moved around). In the very front, a semi had rear ended a car.

Here you can see multiple vehicles smashed on the opposite sides of the semis where I was obviously unable to go.  At one point I counted eleven cars and two semi's in front of me.

It was an absolutely terrifying experience, but thankfully no one lost their lives and as far as I have heard there were only minor injuries sustained. I am perfectly fine, other than being a little sore. The EMT, police, firefighters, and ambulance were all there within minutes and taking care of the situation. In total it was a 32 car pile up. I was able to leave the scene after an hour and a half along with others whose vehicles were driveable. 

After posting yesterday about how I needed a pick me up, this was not what I had in mind, but it definitely made me appreciate all that I do have. 

Hoping everyone has a wonderful , SAFE weekend!