It happened so fast

You know you always hear someone say "it happened so fast." I know the last thing someone saw this morning was another car moments before it changed everything for them. And it was lightening fast. I know this is supposed to be the Tuesday Tirade. (I'm going to get to that on my next post.) I witnessed someone die this morning and it's made quite the impression on me.

I was driving to work on Hwy 11 just past the airport exit in Tulsa when I noticed an SUV coming across the highway from the other direction. It slammed into a BMW in the lane next to  me. Pieces of this accident flew past my windshield and bounced off the top of my car.

I pulled off the side of the highway and so did quite a few other cars. A TSA agent, with his blue uniform on, took over telling people what to do. After flipping over three times the SUV had come to rest on the side of the road upside down. A bloody arm hung out of the smashed window.

I thought the BMW driver had gotten out of his car and was standing next to it with a cellphone talking to 911. The man was visibly shaken and his eyes were locked on to the car. He wasn't the driver. The driver of the car sat behind the wheel still--dead from the impact of the crash.

I couldn't look at any of it. I had to get into my car and leave. Several men were running around trying to be useful in a situation where nothing was left to do. It took emergency service workers 45 minutes to get the driver of the SUV out of his vehicle and he's in the hospital in critical condition. When I left work these cars were still on the road and both lanes were still shut down.

Hug everyone you love today.