CSI: Crash Scene Investigation

Driving to work this morning, and again driving home, I tried to find the location of my accident yesterday. If you've ever had an accident, you know how it is. I just wanted to see where it all happened.

I knew the outer limits, so to speak, of where the accident happened. In other words, I know the northern- and southern-most points that it could have happened: points that border an area of maybe four miles, somewhere within which the accident occurred. But I couldn't seem to find the exact location.

It was only after returning home, dazed and confused, that it came to me. I'm still not sure exactly where the accident happened, but I now realize that it happened a little differently than I originally thought. Rather than running off the road on the northbound side, I actually spun 270 degrees on the road, crossed the oncoming (southbound) traffic lane, and landed in the ditch on the opposite side. This means that the car, rather than tumbling passenger side first, tumbled driver side first. How do I know this?

When leaving the scene of the accident in the cab of the tow truck, I thought we were headed north to turn around and head back into town. When I noticed that we were coming into town, I asked the driver, "Where are we? What town is that?" When he told me the name, I asked, "When did we turn around?" He answered, "Before I hooked your car up."

So after getting home from work today, I got out some Hot Wheels to recreate the scene. ...





So That's how it happened. Maybe tomorrow I'll actually be able to pinpoint the scene of the accident, now that I know on which side of the road to look.

Joe