one morning on my way to work i was driving down a five lane road.  there was a car in the center lane waiting for me to pass so she can turn into the neighborhood on my left.  on the road leading out of the neighborhood was a large 4 door waiting for me to pass so he can make a left onto the main road. anyways, he decided to go for it & tried to dart between me & the other car. he did not succeed. instead he hit my car causing me to flip & hit the car in the center lane.  i remember hearing the car crumble & glass break. at the same time the airbag deployed & i assume the plastic cover on the steering wheel whacked me in the face. everything briefly went black in the middle of the flip.  when i landed the car was on it’s wheels but facing the opposite direction.  i was a bit disoriented, but tried to assess any bodily damage as there was blood down the front of my shirt.  people arrived rather quickly & told me to stay in the car.

i asked about the others & was told i got it the worst: an obviously broken nose, airbag burn on my neck & part of my face, a few cuts & glass embedded in my skin.  i eventually got out of the car & could see two girls from the waiting car crying & two boys from the other; all were 16 & 17.  The girl’s car had a damaged front, but the boys’ car looked fine for the most part. a quick ambulance ride to the hospital for a clean up & x-ray. a cop arrived & told me the driver of the sedan was only 16 & was driving his grandfather’s car.  they were fine.  girl driver was fine, but her passenger had a broken nose.  the passenger was hysterical because she “had a perfect nose.” she wasn’t wearing a seatbelt & probably smacked the dashboard.  now she knows better.

i wound up with a scar on my eyelid & the broken nose was fixed.  i handle pain rather well, but having a stitch pulled from my nostril was the worst pain i’ve ever felt in my life. imagine someone snatching a hair from your nostril x 10.  a tear rolled down my face. i don’t think my lawyer got me as much as i deserved, but it was enough to cover medical bills & pay off my student loan.  i was a bit pissed that i didn’t get much for the car.  i just bought new tires for it & had always put a lot of work into it. i don’t drive any differently because of the accident.  i just have to keep in mind that other drivers might be retarded.