I moved my car out of the garage to get some chairs from behind my car. I put these chairs into our other car and I turned to see my car rolling down the driveway. I can’t say why I didn’t set the emergency brake, but I didn’t.
The first thing I tried to do was open the door and get in. The car was already going too fast. I got the door open, but I was thrown through the bushes and to the ground. My car rolled out of the driveway and into the street. It rolled across the street and into the opposite driveway as I jumped up from the dirt to try to stop it.
All I could do was get behind it and try to stop the car. Even though my Saturn is largely plastic, it is still heavy. My first attempt didn’t really slow it down. In one instance the following scenarios flashed through my head: the car running over me, the car crashing into the neighbor’s house, the car pinning me against the neighbor’s house, telling the house’s occupant’s mother (an old woman who speaks only Chinese and stays home with her toddler grandson) that my car just hit the house.
My second attempt to stop the car worked. I hopped in the car, turned it on and pulled it back up into the garage. I carefully set the emergency brake and got out. My heart was pounding, my knee hurt and I had a bruise on my chest. I had to take several breaths before I could continue getting ready for the NCAA tournament in Greensboro.
