The new winter’s snow has just fallen and Aristides Pereira and company were heading back from a short visit with some friends in Oosaka, Japan, but they were not prepared for the events that were to come.
Pereira recants that he was heading back with friends from Oosaka to Sendai. The long drive, which totals to 400 miles long, was switched off between Pereira and his friends so that each could get a sufficient amount of rest. One of his friends recommended going through the back roads because he said it would be faster going through there than the highways, which have more traffic. Pereira hesitant about the decision reluctantly followed his friend’s recommendation.
After driving for about 8 hours, Pereira traded seats with his friend with only around a 100 miles left until they reached their home, Sendai. The group reached a tunnel and the driver at the time sped up to 45 miles per hour, keep in mind that it was the first snow had already begun to fall, and this disturbed Pereira. Pereira feeling slight discomfort asked if his friend could slow down a bit, but his friend insisted that everything would be fine. The group had finally reached the end of the tunnel, but this was no sigh of relief for them because the situation escalated from the moment they left that tunnel.
The old Nissan vehicle they were driving was equipped with snow tires, but that was not enough to save the group from what was to happen next. The group exited the tunnel driving at an excess speed of 45 miles per hour and they were coming to a turn, fast. The driver then realized that he was not be able to turn in enough time, but even worse was that a semi-truck was heading towards the tunnel. The car skid even though it was equipped with snow tires and the group frighteningly watched as they quickly approached the semi-truck with no reduction in speed.
Then they hit. The Nissan crushed beneath the semi-truck’s side left the group in a daze. Fortunately, there were no casualties. Most of the people in the car came out of the accident with minor fractures. However, Pereira was not as fortunate to walk off with minor injuries. Pereira, who had to be rescued with the use of the Jaws of Life, suffered from a cracked vertebrae and was at the feet of death with an exposed pipe lying a couple of feet away from his face, but his seat belt saved him. Pereira was then transported immediately to a nearby hospital after he was rescued.
Pereira was unable to walk until six months later, however that was with the assistance of a walker because of the immense amount of damage dealt to his body. Even until this day, he experiences back pains from the accident. Although he was upset that they hit the semi-truck and that he suffered the worst injuries of the group, he mentioned that he was also grateful that the semi-truck was there because if it were not, then they would have plummeted off the cliff side. Pereira’s story is a reminder to be safe while driving and always wear a seat belt.
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