What happened
No big story really.
I was driving home from work in the rain and the dark, going up highway 84. I was maybe 4th in a line of 5 cars, going about 15 mph. The next thing I knew, my glasses flew off my face and the car spun around and off the road from an impact just behind the drivers door. Luckily I ended up on a driveway.
It turns out that a guy in a 16-year old Wrangler braked going into a turn as he was coming down the hill, and completely lost traction. He crossed the lane right into the side of my car. I actually don't think he was going very fast - he just had crap tires.
He didn't have a drivers license, and I guess he wasn't a legal resident, so he was hauled off in handcuffs.
Despite the damage he did to my car and despite shaking me up quite a bit, I felt really bad seeing him hauled off by the sheriff. He was a nice guy; I think he worked at one of the horse ranches. He had a pocket full of carrots. The whole thing is just really sad for me.
The real hero of the evening was the guy who had been following me. He was following at a good enough distance that I missed him when I spun around backwards. He stopped to help me, let me sit in his car, lent me an umbrella while the sheriff did her duty, provided witness testimony as to my speed and what happened, and ultimately gave me a ride home. Thanks Shawn! The world needs more people like you.
