Just to put it out there, I’m also a member of a small, yet elite group of Mac programmers that have been hit by a moving vehicle. The other two members I know of these group are Mike Lee and Ash Ponders. I thought I’d add my account to these.

The collision happened about a year ago, probably minus a few months (early Spring ‘07). I was leaving the grocery store with a small bag of necessities. As I remember now, it was actually April because I was buying eggs for Easter. So there, it was April. I had picked up stuff like eggs, a gallon of milk, some tonic water, and other items guaranteed to explode on impact.

There is, in front of this grocery store, a large (12 feet wide) yellow striped path for pedestrians designed to ensure a safe route to their car in the parking lot. It has stop signs and small speed bumps on each side of it as well as signs saying not to hit pedestrians in yellow cones. I had previously thought it was a rather insane amount of precaution. In my home state of Tennessee, we just looked both ways before we crossed and never had any problems. I looked both ways when leaving the store but that didn’t work this time.

My first instinct that something was wrong was the sound that a car makes when it hits a speed bump. It sounded awfully close. I then hear the sound of brakes screeching. The car approached me from my blind side and I had just turned around in time to see the hood as I bounced off of it. It was green. I think.

I don’t remember flying through the air or hitting the ground. I do remember wondering if the eggs broke. I had bounced off of the hood and flew forward with my body fairly parallel to the ground. I picked myself up and saw my sack of broken groceries. I must have been in some form of shock because I was not thinking about how I had just been struck by a car but rather about the fact that I’d have to go back in and shop again.

I wasn’t seriously injured. I had a pretty bad bruise on my leg where the bumper made contact and on my shoulder where I hit the car and the ground. I was hit by three teens cruising in one of those really, really small Fords that you get if your insurance company rents you a car. I don’t know what kind it is, I’ve just only seen them at rental places. I’m also not trying to say that the kids wrecked a previous car, just that it’s the only frame of reference I have for that thing. The car came down a parking lane and took a turn right through the pedestrian walkway into me. I don’t think they even saw me.

A security guard with a fake badge came out and immediately started berating the poor kids. They were more shaken up than I was. I knew it was the type of injury that I could walk off so I took their information and asked the security guard to lighten up a bit. The manager came out and talked with me a bit before scolding the teens some more. The manager replaced my groceries and I filled out some formal paperwork.

In the end, some teens were mortified (and I like to think that they quit driving like idiots) and I was sore for a few days. I have a friend that was hit by a car just recently and broke his collar bone and leg. I guess I bounce better.