Accidents Happen

Can you have survivor guilt over a wreck you witnessed?

This morning, on my way to BSF, I was approaching an intersection in the left hand northbound lane and the light turned yellow. I saw that there was a person in the middle of the intersection coming from the opposite direction, wanting to turn left as the light changed. I came to a compete stop, and the person cautiously began to proceed left. All the sudden, I heard from behind me on the right, a engine revving. I knew what was about to happen, but there was no way anyone could hear me yelling, "STOP!!!!" from my car. A person in a full-size truck was racing to make the yellow, and couldn't see the car turning. The truck hit the car at full speed.

I feel awful.

I know I didn't do anything wrong. But I can't help thinking - if my van was shorter, the truck would have seen the car or the car would have seen the truck. If I had run the yellow, they would have seen each other. I know I didn't cause the accident - but if things had just been a little bit different, it wouldn't have happened. I guess that's why they call them accidents.

I called 911 from my cell phone, but before they even answered a police car pulled up. I gave my statement to police and went on with my day - but it took me good half-hour to stop shaking. It just reinforces the notion that things change in an instant, so I better put my moments to good use.