Woman Survives Harrowing SUV Rollover Accident

May 25, 2006 — -- Emily Bowness was hoping to go to a Pearl Jam concert on Monday night.

After surviving a harrowing car accident -- in which her sport utility vehicle rolled over 12 times -- that afternoon, Bowness, 29, of Grand Rapids, Mich., opted for a quiet evening instead.

She was treated and released from Sparrow Hospital in Lansing, Mich., which is amazing considering that the dramatic accident looked like it was going to be fatal.

Bowness fractured the tip of her thumb, bruised her ribs, and suffered a gash on the back of her head. The head injury has made it difficult for her to sleep, but aside from that, she is doing very well.

Deputy Kimberly Potts of the Oakland County, Mich., sheriff's office, who captured the video of the accident on her dash cam, pulled over when she saw the accident occur, and was shocked to see Bowness in such good condition.

"I can honestly say the seatbelt saved her life," Potts said.

Bowness, who is from Detroit originally, says she makes the same trip on Interstate 96 almost every week to visit friends and family. Nothing was unusual about the trip until a car started heading toward her 2003 Ford Explorer.

"I was in the left lane, just minding my business, and I looked over to the right and there was a car coming right into my lane," she said. "I really had zero seconds to think about it. It was kind of a reflex. I jerked the wheel, swerved left."

Bowness isn't sure what happened next -- whether she hit something in the median or the car hit her.

"There was a lot of force to the whole movement left, though," she said. "So I don't know if there was actually an impact that made me go back a little bit. I think I overcorrected not knowing what else to do. I was doing 75 [mph]. It was just fast."

Accident reconstruction expert Chuck Pemberton, who viewed a video of the accident, says that if Bowness "had countersteered to the left just like you do when you're on a slippery roadway because of snow or ice, it would have been possible for her to get the vehicle stable again." However, she did just the opposite and flipped over.

"You have to make your evasive or countersteering maneuvers in a very gradual manner because if you are jerking around you have the weight above the center of mass," Pemberton said. "Braking is one of the worst things you can do."

Although it might go against instinct, Bowness should have accelerated, Pemberton said, and possibly driven into the median to get her vehicle back under control.

Bowness said she could feel that the car was about to flip "because the momentum was going that way."

"I let go of the wheel because at that point, I had no chance and I put my hands on the roof of my car, like the ceiling, and I just braced myself, tucked my head down and held my breath," Bowness said.

She says she had no idea whether that was the right thing to do, but it worked and she lived to tell the tale.

Police are looking for the person who caused the accident. Bowness said that if she could speak to the driver, she would tell him or her that it was OK.

"I know accidents happen. It's OK," Bowness said. "I'm not real sure how you could drive away, seeing that happening in your rearview mirror. How do you not stop to see if I was OK or make sure I was alive? But I know accidents happen, and I'm sure that person has their reasons."

There are a variety of reasons why drivers don't stop when they cause accidents, Potts said.

"From my experience, some drivers don't stop because they may be under the influence of drugs or alcohol," Potts said. "Or there might be a warrant out for their arrest. But I'm absolutely positive the driver of the mystery vehicle knew what happened and for whatever reason then just fled the scene."

ABC News' Liz Borod Wright contributed to this report.