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Ouch.

I was following a green Mustang GT along Westlake Avenue in Seattle this afternoon when the Mustang suddenly threw out the parachutes and came to a screeching halt. I mashed on my brakes and also came to an abrupt stop, not knowing why the Mustang was stopping in the middle of the road.

Apparently, the Mustang was following a Subaru Legacy wagon when a Honda Accord pulled out onto the street without looking. This is the result. The Legacy was originally traveling the opposite direction from where it came to rest, and I'm not sure if the Accord spun around at all, or if it was just pushed further back onto the sidewalk. It was quite a serious accident, especially for the driver of the Honda, as he/she was broadsided on the driver's side at 40+ mph. Both drivers were alert, but were encouraged by witnesses to stay in their vehicles until emergency personnel arrived. The Subaru driver was bleeding from his head/face, but was talking and [understandably] quite angry. His car is totaled because somebody made a seriously stupid mistake. Despite being worth more money, I'm sure the Honda is also totaled due to the apparent structural damage.

Despite the fact that all this happened only two cars ahead of me, I didn't notice anything until I was already stopped and I saw the Subaru rolling backward with smoke and fluids coming out.

I've been a licensed driver for 13 years now, and have luckily never been in an accident. Seeing something like this serves as a reminder that not all accidents are avoidable, as the Subaru driver had no time to hit the brakes, since the Honda totally came out of nowhere.

Could have been me, if I had been less than 2 seconds ahead of where I was on the road. Close call...

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Uploaded on Jul 13, 2009

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