So this was my morning - guy in N Austin was crossing on an orange hand and absolutely invisible until I was 6 feet away.

I have hit someone. Basically exactly this video, except the dude wasn’t at a crosswalk, he was running, and he came from the left side of the street, not the right. By the time I saw him, it was too late.

Huge hole in my windshield. I had to sit and wait while the guy was taken to the hospital, and we had to see if he died, because if he did, they have to automatically book you for manslaughter or something (that’s the law in the state I was in). It took hours and hours, and at one point they told me he wasn’t going to make it. Silent tears fell. Then like 20 minutes after that they said he’s pulling through.

Thankfully, I had plenty of witnesses because on that street that day there had been a parade event thingy earlier, so people were still outside, and even one driver stopped to give testimony to the cops. I was so damn lucky they all backed me up. Turned out the guy was piss drunk, and he had been wearing a black jacket. I was heading toward a green light, but not at the intersection yet, so no reason to slow down, etc etc. Thankfully I had been driving perfectly safely, and I was found 0% at fault.

You’re right, the trauma doesn’t go away the next day. I’ve been diagnosed with PTSD, and it took me a while to get back on the road, especially at night.

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