Witness to a rollover

Last Saturday, I saw a car rollover. As in, I happened upon the scene on Highway 36 as the car was still rolling. It really freaked me out.

I was driving to the doctor’s office. (Adrianna has had a cold for awhile now and she had woken up with a fever and was fussy, so I figured she should go back for a checkup. Turns out she has her first ear infection.) Anyways, as I was on my way, I saw a sign that said that there was fire training happening in the area and that smoke might be visible. Which wasn’t unusual; the sign had been up for a few days. So about a mile later, when I saw what looked like smoke, I wasn’t too concerned but I did wonder why they would be doing fire training so close to the highway. Then I realized what I was seeing wasn’t just smoke; it was both smoke and a cloud of dust. The cloud was being created as a result of a car that was rolling, right before my eyes, on the side of the highway! Traffic was moving at the regular pace (about 55 mph) and the car was rolling quite quickly.

I am not good in emergency situations. I freak out or cry, at least that has been my record thus far. So I was proud of myself that I remained composed and immediately pulled out my cell phone to dial 911. I wondered if I should stop and help too, but 3 or 4 cars were already pulling over and their occupants were running to help so I decided I would just be in the way. It gave me a really good feeling to see so many strangers willing to stop and run to help someone they didn’t even know.

It seemed like it took forever for the 911 operator to answer the phone. I gave the details I knew (location, direction, etc) and then they bumped me over to the Westminster police. Which I still wonder why I had to be redirected in the first place. I find that a little disconcerting that the Westminster police didn’t automatically get the call OR that the first operator I talked to couldn’t help.

I was still driving at this point and after the 911 call had been placed, then I started to freak out. I can still see a mental image of the car rolling in my mind. It was so scary! I called Greg and that is when I started to shake and cry.

On my way home from the doctor’s office, traffic was backed up pretty badly on the other side of the highway because of the accident. I didn’t see an ambulance, but there was a tow truck and a cop. The car from the rollover was banged up pretty badly. Judging from the site (only one cop car), it doesn’t appear that there were any fatalities from the crash, for which I am so thankful.