My drive to work includes 34 miles on one of the most dangerous stretches of road in the state of California, if not the whole United States. We are talking 34 miles of road out to the middle of the desert. This road leads to only one place and last year there were 40 accidents and 28 injuries on it. It was the first year no one was killed on that road in eight years. The year before, six people from car accidents. On one 34-mile stretch.

One thing about this road is it wasn’t built very well, so when it rains, it floods in many different spots. And not just a little water on the road. More like six to twelve inches of water for about 50 feet.

So I’m driving in the morning at 5 a.m. and it’s raining a little, but not too bad since it’s been storming all night. It’s pitch dark outside and I can barely see anything because there are no streetlights on the road. For once, I’m actually going the speed limit, since I’m trying to keep an eye out for the flooding signs so I can slow down.

Well, I guess the military police and California Highway Patrol didn’t feel the need to check for flooding and post signs. One minute I’m driving down the road looking for water (just in case) when James, the guy I carpool with, yells “hey, watch out” just as my car starts to hydroplane. I twist the wheel, just hoping to stay on the road, but that sends me into three full revolutions through both lanes before my car finally comes to a stop on the side of the road.

Though the whole thing probably lasted about five seconds, it felt like forever. That feeling when I realized that I had no control of the car and anything about to happen was the scariest moment of my entire life. Thank God I leave for work extra early to beat the traffic. The outcome would’ve been a lot different if there were any oncoming traffic or even any traffic in my lane.

As it was, as soon as the car stopped I just started shaking, which led to crying and having to sit there a good ten minutes before I was able to start driving again. Luckily, there was no damage to myself, my passenger or my car. It’s constantly impressed upon everyone who works on post how dangerous that road is, but I never realized how dangerous until this morning.