The red glow of a traffic light.  The jolt of a sudden break. The slamming of metal on metal and the locking of seatbelts.  It happens often, but for anyone who’s been in a car crash, the fear and the shock is genuine.

   While car crashes may seem far-fetched, a collision occurred on the intersection of Anza and Torrance and involved an elderly couple and a group of West High students on their way to the Homecoming dance. Fortunately, none of the people involved sustained major injuries.

   John Blais (10), who was in the crash, explained that he and his friends were coming back from taking pictures at the Palos Verdes cliffs. He recalled being on his phone, until a car slammed into the passenger side of their vehicle, which was driven by Susan Wong (12). “We slid to a halt and everyone was shaking,” he said.  “We couldn’t get out [because] the other car pinned my side of the door.  Luckily, none of us were hurt in the moment.”

   Uzair Pasta (12) witnessed the aftermath of the accident, saying, “We were turning on the intersection of the accident when I saw people wearing fancy clothes and I recognized some of them as seniors.” After stopping the car, Pasta and his friends checked with all of the people involved in the crash to make sure that they were alright.  “Although I’m still confused on what happened exactly,” Pasta said, “I [think] they both ran a light and the student stopped in the middle and got hit.”

   Despite being shaken up, none of the students or the elderly couple seemed to be hurt.  Blais mentioned a few bruises on his leg and hand, but most of all, the crash was mentally and emotionally difficult for the students.  “When you have a near death experience,” Blais said, “it’s never really ever going to go away, like a scar. I’m never going to forget the headlights and [the] sound of the cars merging into one big giant mess, but [I’m] very grateful to be here, living my life, and I feel very blessed to have lived through a tragic accident.”

   Blais and his friends still decided to go to Homecoming.  He expressed that although the crash was frightening, they still wanted to have fun together and went on to the dance after dealing with the aftermath of the crash.