By KELLY HANNON

Joe Wilson, a former Fredericksburg Councilman, knows how dangerous unsecured trailers can be.

Around 9 a.m. on May 27, 2008, Wilson was traveling westbound on William Street in Fredericksburg, up a hill toward the University of Mary Washington.

Wilson was driving to hear Sen. Mark Warner, then a candidate, speak at a Northern Virginia event.

Wilson's car was almost stopped at the College Avenue traffic signal.

About the same moment, a utility trailer being pulled by an eastbound Ford pickup came loose at the intersection.

The unsecured trailer, packed with sod for a landscaping project, veered downhill into the westbound lane, headed at Wilson's car.

"I saw it coming, just a split second," Wilson said, "and I dove across the arm rest into the floor and just as it came across the hood, threw up my hands, which was a natural reaction."

The trailer hit Wilson's Hyundai sedan head-on. The trailer's connection mechanism crashed through his windshield.

Wilson said the force caused him to suffer a severe injury to his left hand, which he had raised just before the impact.

The sod in the trailer slid forward into Wilson's car, falling on top of him.

After the crash, the first thing that registered with Wilson was the dirt, pressing down all around him.

"For a little bit I thought I was dead. I wasn't sure I was alive," Wilson said.

Then he heard other voices, and slowly realized he'd survived. He calls it the best day of his life.

"Here you are one moment, everything's jam up and jelly tight, and bang! The whole world is upside down. Did I think driving up that road, all dressed up that bright, sunny morning to go hear Mark Warner speak, did I think there'd be anything that [would have happened]? Absolutely not. I'm serious, though, when I say that was the best day of my life. I came so close to being killed," Wilson said.

"It also made me realize how mortal we are," he said.

Wilson remains active in the community. He owns PermaTreat Pest Control and is vice chairman of Fredericksburg's Economic Development Authority.