I bet there are hundreds, or even thousands of people celebrating their wedding anniversary today. I’m celebrating an anniversary of sorts as well. Twenty-seven years ago today I was forced, by a hit-and-run driver, head-on into the path of a 26,000 pound Peterbuilt tri-axle dump truck. Obviously I survived, but trust me when I say that it was a miracle. Ironically, I was at the time working in the transportation safety industry via an insurance company, studying unsafe driver behaviors. I even followed my own advice, but the speed and circumstances were too much for my skills and abilities. Based on the speed of the truck and my car, the collision was later estimated to be 80 miles per hour.
Buckle Up Your Unsafe Behaviors
Back then, there were no air bags, but my seat belt saved my life. The impact broke both my legs, nine ribs, my sternum, my clavicle, my left arm and wrist in several places, my left hand, my fingers and my right foot and toes. Medics quickly arrived. In about an hour, they managed to cut me free from the wreckage. They gave me a helicopter ride to the trauma center while jamming a four inch needle into my chest to inflate my crushed right lung.
