November 1st, 2:00 AM. Me and my girlfriend decided we would take a quick trip to Wal-Mart. I barely recall what for. We got what we needed, I rented a DVD, then we started heading home. I started to drive home by exiting the back road of Wal-Mart heading South, then making a right onto Llano Estacado. At this point Llano Estacado is a four lane road with center turn lane, and nice large shoulders. No median except the turn lane. Two lanes each direction. I started out in the right lane then shortly signaled, and went into the left lane (inside lane). We traveled for a few minutes and I was carrying on a conversation with Misty. After a few minutes I noticed headlights in my rear view mirror, and I noticed the vehicle behind me was coming up on me fast. I started honking my horn thinking that might help in some way. Then when I realized that wasn’t doing anything (few moments) I tried to get out of the way of the person behind me, so I tried to go into the right lane. I remember telling Misty to hold on, she only recalls this after a few nightmares. Before I made it into the right lane the vehicle behind me struck my truck. They must have been moving at least 60+ mph. I was going around 40 mph. The posted speed limit is 45 mph. When we were hit my truck veered right, hit the curb, and started tumbling down the embankment, we took out a chain link fence, and started rolling. I remember during the tumbling, “I hope the truck’s roof doesn’t collapse…” We landed on our wheels, and I remember the smell of the ground. All the windows were destroyed, so I could smell the ground, and grass; a very eerie feeling. I asked Misty if she was okay, and she said she thought she was. I told her not to move, then I remember thinking, “No body knows we are down here…. and no one is going to come to help. I’ve got to call 911.” So I reached for my phone, which is normally on my belt. It’s gone… during the entire rolling it was ejected from it’s holster on my belt, so I didn’t have my phone, and I had no clue where it was… to make matters worse, my glasses were gone too! I am absolutely completely blind without my glasses…. I can see a few inches in front of my face, and that’s it, not much further. So I had to find my glasses. My hat was gone, cell phone, glasses… everything. I fumbled around for my glasses, and finally found them. They were wrapped around what I think was my hat, on the dash. I remember I had to turn off my truck, it was still running! Then I had to turn off the headlights, I dunno why, just had too…. Don’t ask me, lol. Then I started looking for my phone. I finally found it, just outside the vehicle within reach, so I grabbed it and called 911. The conversation went close to this:
911: 911, what’s your emergency?
Me: Yes, have you been informed of the vehicle crash on Llano?
911: Yes, *pause*, why?
Me: Okay, I just wanted to make sure, I am one of the victims.
911: (Shocked) You are one of the victims?
me: Yes, I was just hit from behind.
911: Where exactly on Llano was the accident?
Me: Right at Llano and Main Street, we rolled down the hill.
911: Were there any other victims?
Me: Yes, my girlfriend, she’s complaining of back injuries.
911: Okay sir, stay there, don’t move, the ambulance is on the way.
Or something like that, I’m not positive exactly how it went, but something similar to that. After I hung up with 911 I had a choice to make. Knowing full well that my truck just rolled several times, and that I could be paralyzed for life, and moving could make it worse, I knew I had to check on the person who hit me. After all, if I was hurt this bad, he’s gotta be doing bad too right?… So I get out of my truck, crawl up the hill, and look around. There is a Ford F150 Truck parked on the side of the road with their flashers on. I look at the front of it, and can tell that’s not the person who hit me. The driver gets out and tells me to sit down and not move, and that they called the ambulance. I can’t sit down, I was trying to find the other driver….. But he is no where to be found. I asked him if he knew where the other driver was, he said no. Around this point the ambulance arrives, and takes care of Misty. I kinda have to walk up to the EMTs and let them know I was a victim… They make me sign a few documents stating that I refused transportation, but not treatment. Misty gets strapped to a gurney and taken to the hospital via Ambulance. I road with the ambulance but only as a passenger. After the ER doctor looks at me, the traffic officer talks to me, gets information etc. Then he tells me that 1) The person that hit me was Eric Bradley, 2) He is employed with the Air Force Base, 3) He blew a .12 (1.5 times the legal limit of .08), 4) he fled the scene, 5) he was driving his car with front end damage, with the airbags still deployed! and claimed he was never in an accident! His passenger side mirror was in my truck bed, and my driver side taillight was embedded in his windshield!
To this day, I have never spoken with Mr. Bradley, his attorney, or anyone on his behalf. I’ve never received an apology from him. Only from the Air Force themselves have I received any phone call, or information.
To give you a better idea of the crash scene here’s a satellite photo of the area:
Green Marker: Wal-Mart.
Blue Route: Route that I took.
Red Route: Route I was intending to take.
Blue Marker: Approximately where I was hit.
Red Marker: Approximately where my truck landed after everything was done.
That whole area that we landed in was a dry lake bed. When it’s rained enough it gets filled with water. It’s just a good thing it didn’t have any water in it, that would have made things ten times worse.
Here is my truck afterwords:
I’ll post more pics when I get a chance, but this is it for right now.
So….Drunk Drivers suck.
“ I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again…aye carumba!
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