You have no idea how on the point you are. Especially for major accidents. Looking back it feels like it took hours because there are so many tiny details that stick out. Important stuff, unimportant stuff. Smells. Sounds. Voices. But all in all, it takes a few seconds at most to go from just another day to a really bad situation. Happened to me in 2004. Hit another vehicle that wasn't paying attention at an ungoverned merge. Still disturbs me to this day. It took perhaps a second from my reaisation that something was going to happen to it actually happening. A distance of maybe 10 meters.In a moments notice, everything can change.
I have experienced major time dilation four times that I can recall. First time I was 6 or 7, and pulled a 2 year old from the bottom of a public pool. Second time age 8, I was way out in our front yard, turned to see a large section of the backyard on fire around the neighbors trash-burning barrel, I ran and put it out with a shovel and a garden hose. Third time I was 16 and rolled a VW squareback wagon into a ditch, exactly as I had done in a dream 3 weeks before. Had the classic "Life passing before my eyes" scenario and after I stopped rolling just figured I was dreaming again. Fourth time was the impetus for the story I posted last night, where two truckers tried to murder me.
That story about the 2 year old is interesting. Was there no one else there?
Her mom was sitting a few feet away near the kiddie pool, yakking. I happened to be learning to swim and was jumping in near the steps and swimming to the side of the big pool. It was a typically crowded summer day, lifeguard was there, I did not see the baby fall in, just found her lying on the bottom, just past me and the steps. Her eyes were wide open and unblinking, she may have been slightly moving her arms and legs or it could have been the motion of the water. I dove down and lifted her out with my own head barely above water and shouting for help. She was revived. There was a lot of screaming from her mom and others, I was forgotten in the panic or else was in shock and don't remember anyone addressing me in any way. I do recall watching the crowd around her and hearing her cry. My parents never talked to me about this after I told them, I'm sure it contributed to my recklessness and general disregard for danger, having cheated death at the age of 7.
I gotta say you are kind of a badass. also you are now the first person I have followed.
I have gone on to save the lives of 10 people, myself included once in a near disaster that would have killed me, my sister, her husband and both of their children. I saved my Party Chiefs life back in 1976 or so, though at the time we did not discuss it, it was too immediate. He was nearly run over by a grader or patrol, long caterpillar with that wide blade beneath. It was backing on to him and I managed to shout above the noise of the machine, he jumped clear at the last moment. 20 years later after many a different job for me, in a crowd of fellow workers as we had our morning coffee, he pointed at me and said, "Yeah, that guy saved my life". It was good for me as I had many other experiences that near rivaled that one and had become detached for reason of sanity from my exploits. It was the first time he had acknowledged it.
Time is a strange thing in moments like that. You are forced out of any internal dialog and fully and completely in to the present moment. If you've not ever seen the movie Fearless with Jeff Bridges, I highly recommend it. There are people that get addicted to the extreme hyper-awareness and presence that situations like car accidents provide. This can account for the popularity of things like extreme sports -sky diving etc. About 6 years ago I was driving down the highway at about 70 mph when the hood of my car flipped up and smashed in to my windshield. Glass shattered all over and I struggled to maintain control of my vehicle in the ice and snow. I was fine, just some minor cuts and scratches and I avoided contact with all other cars. In total it lasted about 10 seconds but felt like an hour. I can still remember the smell and the taste of some of the particles from the hood that were in my mouth. Scared the shit out of me. aside: Have you ever noticed that time goes slowly in moments like that, when you are fully in the present moment? Conversely, time goes by quickly when you are "zoned out" or constantly in the state of mundane thought. Perhaps the key to a seemingly "long life" is to try and be present as much as possible.... without the need for an extreme situation. -Easier said than done, I think.
I think that the reason that time seems to go slowly at those times is the adrenaline. With it pumping through your brain, you think, and act faster. Survival instinct, I guess. Wouldn't be a nice way to live though. There's times when you want time to go fast.
It's definitely the adrenaline surge, combined with having the obligation to perform a task as the driver. I have been in several accidents and incidents on the highway but only experienced time dilation when I was the driver/rider and not the passenger.
Seems like a sound theory to me. After reading your piece about the trucks, it occurred to me that if racecar drivers have any hesitation or inkling of doubt, they're likely to become rickybobby-toast.
Ricky-Bobby running around on fire. best part of the movie. Ayrton Senna comes to mind, he did things with an F1 car that no one has matched. He was also bat-shit religious, but in a good way, he thought of himself as chosen, but kept fairly quiet about it. Along with that came no fear of death, to the point that his friends and family were concerned for him. Alain Prost tried to talk sense into him several times. The documentary "Senna" is on Netflix, good flick even for non-race fans. I have when riding at speed had stray moments of thought, that proved, sphincter-clenching. That's why I love riding, it forces you to be in the moment, and when I stop there is always that grin.