Blacked out behind the wheel at 18 — walked away fine but still shaken months later
This is kind of embarrassing to post but I haven't really talked about it with anyone and I need to get it out.
Back in the spring I borrowed my older brother's sedan to run some errands. Normal Tuesday. I was on a two-lane road through a pretty quiet part of town — speed limit is 35 there — and the last thing I remember is feeling this weird rushing feeling in my ears and my vision going gray. That's it.
I came to with the car halfway into a shallow drainage ditch, front end crumpled against a concrete culvert. A woman who lived nearby was already at my window asking if I could hear her. Somehow I had no serious injuries — a seatbelt bruise across my chest and a messed-up wrist that turned out to be a mild sprain. That's it.
The car was totaled. I felt so guilty about my brother's car. He was honestly amazing about it — more worried about me than anything.
I've since seen a doctor and we figured out I had an undiagnosed blood pressure issue that probably caused the blackout. Getting that treated now, which I guess is the one good thing that came out of this.
Two things I keep thinking about: 1. Neither of the front airbags deployed even though the front end took a pretty solid hit. Is that normal depending on the angle of impact? 2. The ditch was on county-maintained land and the culvert had basically no signage or barrier around it. Does that ever matter legally or am I overthinking it?
I saved up and bought my own car last month — nothing fancy but it's mine. Just glad I'm here to drive it honestly. Has anyone else dealt with a medical blackout accident?