My drive to and from work is usually uneventful. I usually drive to work in less then 15 minutes. The drive home is a little longer, 20 to 25 minutes depending on the traffic. Today it was a longer drive home. I drive on 66, which is a major highway outside of DC. I'm only on 66 for maybe 3 exits. It's usually a very short trip. Not today.

On the way home today, I merged onto 66 east with ease. I worked my way over to the far left lane. The two right lanes always back up around the exit to the beltway so the farther left you are, the less you have to sit in traffic. The traffic was moving very smoothly and rather quickly. I estimate we were all traveling between 65 and 70 miles an hour. Now the speed limit on 66 is 55 miles an hour. No one ever travels that slow unless a state trooper is around. Today was no exception. We were going with the flow of traffic. I was about 2 car lengths behind the car in front of me. I was just thinking about what I needed to do when I get home. Without warning, a RAV 4 in the middle lane, right next to the car in front of me decided to switch lanes and get into the left lane. Without looking, the RAV 4 swerved into the left lane sending the car that was currently there swerving into the shoulder lane. This car swerved back into her own lane so as not to hit the Jersey wall but then back again so as not to go into to the middle lane but did it with such abruptness that she lost control and turned her wheel the opposite way too hard and too fast and slammed into the Jersey wall. Her car slid against the Jersey wall and then slightly away from the wall and finally came to a stop. The RAV 4 that had caused this reaction didn't even know it had done so and kept driving. It was no where to be seen. Since I was directly behind the car that hit the Jersey wall, I was showered with rocks and debris.

I quickly pulled over onto the shoulder several car lengths ahead of where her car came to rest. The car behind me did the same. We both grabbed our cell phones and jumped out of our cars. I ran back to the damaged car. The two women in the car were fine. No air bags, no injuries. They were just badly shaken up. And the car didn't look all that bad for slamming into the Jersey wall so hard. Both women in the car already had their cell phones out and were calling the police, and AAA. After talking about what we saw and giving her my information, we just stood around looking at the car. We didn't say much after that. After 20 minutes or so I told the ladies that if there wasn't anything more I could do for them, I would need to get going. They assured me and the other guy who stopped that they were fine and the police were on their way. I told her I was more then willing to give a statement to the police and describe the vehicle that drove off and what caused the accident as I saw it. She said she would pass my information on to the police. I then made sure once again that they were okay and then I left. I was really shaken up by this. My legs were shaking and I was scared. I have never been in an accident of this nature (knock wood), nor have I witnessed such an event so closely. I had planned to run some errands on the way home but decided I just wanted to get home and sit down. That's what I did.

About an hour and a half later I got a call from a Virginia State Trooper. When I don't recognize the number on my caller ID, I don't pick up the phone. I let the voice mail answer it. Once I saw the light blinking, I called my voice mail and got the message. Trooper Madison of the Virginia State Police said I was a witness to an accident and she wanted to get my statement. I called her back and got the dispatcher. He said she was already on her way to another call and she'd have to call me back. I haven't heard from her at this point. I hope she calls before I go to bed or before I forget all the details of the accident. However, I don't think I'll be forgetting it anytime soon. I'm still a little shaken by it. It happened right in front of me. If I had been tail gating like I sometimes do, I would have been part of the accident, I'm sure. Scary. I think I'll drive slower from now on.