Me and my roommate were driving back to school from salem at about 9:15. The route is a long dark two lane country highway. There was hardly any traffic, we had passed about 2 cars in the last 10 minutes before this happened. I saw an animal run across the street in front of the car ahead of me. I started to think what I'd need to do to avoid it in case it was still there when I got to it... then half way through that thought the car in front of me swerves into the other lane right into an oncoming pickup.

I slam on the brakes and by the time I stop I'm about 20 feet from the car that was in front of me, the truck is flipped off the road, and there is car debrie everywhere. I panic because I have never seen anything like this, I was so scared to get out of the car because I was positive that nobody could have survived that. So I call 911, get out of the car and its dead silent except for the smoking of hot car fluids. Then all the sudden a person from the car starts moaning and screaming in pain while I'm trying to tell 911 where the heck I'm at. Then the guy in the truck off the road starts yelling and screaming about the pain in his back and legs and to get him out. Very creepy to say the least. 911 arrived about 5-10 minutes later, while I was trying to help the driver of the car stay awake. A few other people showed up and started to help... it took the jaws of life to get them all out and they ended up having to life flight the two drivers out of there, and they took the passenger in an ambulance.

Needless to say I'm a little freaked out by what happened last night. If that animal was another half second later running into the street that might have been me trapped in a destroyed car. The scariest part is that the guy in the truck had nothing to do with this. He just had oncoming traffic swerve right into him. As he kept telling me, he was "just going to work". I didn't know what to tell him...

I'm very thankful that my just replaced my brakes and that I wasn't involved in this because its very possible that I could have been. Luckily I was following about 3 car lengths behind the car in front of me otherwise I probably would have ran right into them and killed them (they did a 180* turn after they hit). I have no idea how the people involved are doing but I wish I could find out... the girl in the car was about my age and went to Oregon State University...

I'll never forget the sound of the crash. Very scary, almost like a 100 pop cans being smashed against a wall at the same time.

Yeah, crashes are not fun to hear, see, or be in.

Just another reminder that you should not swerve for animals. They are natures speedbumps, just hit them.

Just reading that freaked me out a little bit. Some idiot in an 80 LeSabre once ran a stop sign slamming into the car that was just ahead of us, the worst part was, I was telling my mom to pass them then slow down just a bit, if she had listened to me, we would've been hit

Yeah, I had considered passing this car a mile or two back, but I didn't. If I did though I'd probably have been further ahead and have avoided it altogether however...

Life is fragile. Most of the time we don't even give these sorts of things a second thought (well I do, likely because I deal with the aftermath regularly). This is why I've been known to harp on people a little bit about driving habits, safety, etc. Just about everybody I've ever picked was going on through their day, never suspecting they were going to have a ride in my ambulance. Here one second, gone the next.

Yeah I've been thinking about how your life can change in an instant a lot today. It'* pretty scary... especially that it might not even be your fault.

Yeah, just hit the wildlife. They're softer than other vehicles.

I'll try avoiding however, if there'* no traffic in the vicinity.

This is most certainly the best example to back up the advice don't EVER EVER E-V-E-R swerve away from an animal, EVER. SLAM the brakes like your life depends on it, if you hit it, you hit it, but boy, its one HELL of alot better than what you might hit if you have swerved. Remember, if you swerve off of the pavement, there is NO, NONE, NADA traction on dirt or grass, even less on grass actually, once you hit grass, and you're going fast, FORGET about stopping.

Thats horrific. Yes, I once witnessed an rental 03 wrangler head on with an 88 toyota pickup in hawaii at a combined speed of 120 mph. The tourist woman was GAZING at Sunset beach and swerved right into the oncoming lane, while i was STANDING 5 FEET away waiting to cross the road. The NOISE was ABSOLUTELY THE MOST HORRIFIC THING. Nothing like it, just CUH RUNCH. dead silence, airbag dust settles, people start moaning, oh man, if theres something you don't want to witness in your lifetime, its an accident.

I do believe this is right where i was standing when it happened....alas, what she was staring at.

Glad you only witnessed it and not in it. Those things will make you think...bet you didn't get much sleep.
Weir thing, I had a dream I was in a an accident last night.
:?

We can say hit the critters, however it'* the panic reaction that matters.

In this instance the driver in front of you reacted to the animal and the oncoming truck wasn't factored in. The amount of time to a reaction is not typically enough for thought. This is where the problem lies.

I happen to know in the situations I've been in during my life.. my emergency reaction is typically one that doesn't put me further into harms way. Unfortunately we don't practice emergency situations and get our reactions to follow the best path.