Guildford Crash Carnage

I was only going for a chinese.
As Michelle and I pulled up to the red lights on the A3/A322 junction in Guildford at just after 7pm last night, the sunshine was drawing in, shadows were slowly forming, and leaves rustled across the road. It was an almost perfect end to the day.
Then, a loud, scraping noise came hurtling round the corner. It sounded as though either a crash was in progress, or the world was imploding. I favoured the former and just a second later, a car rushed into view about 5 metres in front of us, one wheel missing. As it hit the side kerb, the entire metal mess launched into the air and slammed into the side wall at 60mph. As Michelle and I tried to catch our breath, a police car came into view, screeched on its brakes, and its driver ran over to the carnage. The passengers of the stolen car limped out, but the driver was pinned against the steering wheel, bleeding profusely. Moments later, a helicopter and a riot van turned up, and a few seconds after that, in what seemed a little like overkill, 4 police cars and two ambulances arrived.
It was like a scene from The Bill. I was wondering this morning how I could write about it in an amusing way, but decided against it. When something like that happens 5 metres away from you instead of on a television screen, and when not actors but real people stagger out, blood pouring all over the place, it’s a fairly harrowing experience. Had the lights turned green five seconds earlier, the poor old age pensioners in front of me would have had an early exit from life. I suppose its a good thing that I’ve seen it first hand – next time it happens I’ll be better prepared for the scene – but I have to admit it’s something I don’t want to see TOO often.
Still, my chinese was very tasty.