Life at the crossroads in Uptown Westerville

by Gary Gardiner | Apr 2, 2013

Car, truck, truck car accident at State and Main

It’s not often I labor over selecting the best photo for My Final Photo. I usually know which one I will use when I take it.

Today was a little different. Not because of  having too many great photos to choose from. Not from having too few good photos to choose from. Nor was it from not being able to decide.

The choice  was fairly simple. Use the one that best describes the story.

That’s why you have a wide-angle view of State and Main in Uptown Westerville with a police officer standing in the middle of the intersection, orange cones blocking the turn lane, a crumpled car, a dented truck, another dented truck and a second dented car.

First, I was standing on the sidewalk near the curb between the traffic signal pole and its control unit having just turned off my camera after determining that I wanted a more oblique position to shoot the stores across the street while the sun was breaking between clouds. As I turned to cross Main Street, I saw that the light had changed. Traffic on northbound State was slowing down for the signal and I could hear the sound of a car on Main begin to slowly accelerate into the intersection.

As I continued my turn toward Main I also heard the sound of tires traveling at a consistent high speed, not a decelerating speed as it approached the now red traffic signal on State.

At the sound of the crash I watched as a truck, turning in an attempt to avoid the car now partially in the intersection, slammed into the car making a 270-degree turn in the middle of State Street crossing into the opposing lanes and ending up  crashing into a parked truck that slid into the parked car in front of it.

I didn’t have time to turn on the camera and shoot any photos as it happened. It was too quick, and my only concern was where the car and truck were going to end up at the end of their travels. I wanted to be able to move in the proper direction to avoid becoming the pedestrian struck by flying vehicles and making an earlier photo My Final Photo.

It all ended well with the exception of the truck driver who had to crawl out of the driver’s side window because he was jammed into the parked truck. His first act after getting out of the truck was to apologize to the car’s driver for having run the light and causing the accident.

The car’s driver was shocked by the impact but quickly recovered when someone she knew began to talk to her and calmed her nerves.

Traffic was interrupted for about 45 minutes. The guys sitting in the window seats at Old Bag of Nails had a great view of the investigation and cleanup. One store owner complained that traffic was blocked too long wondering why the police didn’t just push the cars onto side streets while writing everything onto the investigation forms. Others tried to figure out who ran which light, who was at fault, and were there any pedestrians in the street. The wrecker hauled the car onto the flatbed, grabbed the front tires of the truck, and hauled both off together. The car’s drive retrieved the car seat from the back seat.

Car, truck, truck car accident at State and Main

Not sure what, if any, citations were issued. Even though neither driver said they were injured and needed a medic I urged the car’s driver to have herself checked by a physician just in case. Her husband who had just arrived from home agreed that she would be examined.

After all, he’s a personal injury lawyer.

Oh yes, I was fine. I have a Hipstamatic Tintype to add to the collection.