I didn't even know what hit me!

Okay, for real, I didn't even know what hit me. We were riding home from work today in out trusty dusty mini van, a car pool of seven. The driver joked before we left the parking lot because everyone put their seat belts on. "You guys really trust my driving, don't you?" Nothing about trust, it's just LAW in Chicago to wear a seatbelt.
As we were driving north on Campbell to Belmont, we stopped at the corner. There was a pedestrian coming across Belmont, so the driver waited for her to get across before we took our turn. Did I mention that I was in the front seat holding a full cup of coffee with no lid? In split second, I heard a crunch and noticed that my coffee was all over my right pantsleg. (I am so happy that jeans are acceptable in my office!) I though the 'crunch' was a broken axle or something. Then,our driver said something about 'that lady just ran into us.'
I really did not know that something hit us! That was so weird. Everyone was okay, I was probably the most shaken. I had a serious spinalfusion surgery in 2004, two titanium rods and a mega amount of screws are forever embedded in my spine, so I have reason to worry. I feel fine, just a bit sore.
The ironic thing about the accident was that the driver of the other car was a Chicago school crossing guard! She said something like 'I couldn't see that girl crossing because of the tinted windows on your van.' Why was she trying to look through our windows?
Well, I'm happy to say that this is the first accident that I have ever been in in my life, ever! Hopefully the last.