by Megan Steele

Created on: October 03, 2008   Last Updated: October 31, 2008

Over the course of the summer, my husband and two year old son eat a lot of fruit. Almost a fourth of our grocery budget is spent on fruit. I would go to the grocery store every week, just to buy more fruit. One Sunday afternoon, my husband being very tired from working long hours all week, I let him know that I was taking our son with me to the grocery store, because once again, we were out of fruit. I told him to relax and take a nap if he wanted, we wouldn't be gone long.

I put my son in his car seat and off we went. Our regular grocery store is maybe eight minutes from our apartment, depending on the lights. We sat at one light, first in line, singing songs and giggling. Our light turned green, and the light across the next intersection turned green at the same time. We took off. Halfway to the next intersection, I saw a black SUV coming up really fast to the red light for traffic coming off the interstate. My heart started to pound when I realize it wasn't slowing down. My first and only thought was "Oh my God, my son is going to be hurt." I hit the brakes and for a nanosecond, I thought we had made it through the intersection unscathed. Then I felt the impact and we spun around in a complete circle. I frantically checked the small mirror I had above the rearview mirror to see into the back seat. I couldn't see my son! He wasn't crying and I couldn't see him. I whipped around and saw him turning his head to look at me. When he saw me, he started to scream. I don't think I even checked to see if traffic was coming from beside me, I just whipped off my seatbelt and took him out of the back seat as fast as I could. I was so shaken, I could barely dial my husband. Thank God for the witnesses who stopped and called 911 for us.

The woman who hit us wasn't even looking at the light she ran. I'm sure she was on the phone. She didn't notice the line of cars stopped in the two lanes next to her. She accused me of running a red light. Her SUV had a broken grille. My car was totalled. Had my son been on the passenger side of the car, he may have been seriously injured. Had his car seat not been as secure as it was, he most definitely would have been hurt. If she had hit us even a few inches closer to the center of the car instead of the rear end, my car could have rolled and we both could have been killed.

The what ifs that run through your mind after an accident when your child is with you are enough to scare you for months afterward. The car we bought to replace mine has all the safety features we could think of. I still flinch at intersections when my son is in the car with me. I check his car seat every time we go somewhere to make sure it is secure. He is strapped in snugly, with one finger worth of play in the straps each time he gets in his seat. This accident taught me never to take his safety, or another driver's attention for granted.

Learn more about this author, Megan Steele.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.