We’ve all been there. Every driver knows, most through unpleasant experience, that the surefire way to ruin your day is to be in an auto accident.

It starts with the sudden, sickening crunch, followed instantly by a flood of visceral responses: the unfocused “OH S—T!” and the immediate certainty that it didn’t have to happen and could have been avoided in any number of ways — a different route, lower speed, closer attention to the road, no cell phone, etc.

We wish for (and are never granted) a do-over. And soon the realization sinks in that the car damage will be expensive to repair, and for those truly awful accidents, that serious injuries or death can never be repaired. It’s a nightmare.

Our still-unfolding Afghanistan nightmare — President Joe Biden at the wheel, driving the bus right past the warning signs and into the deep ditch directly ahead — evokes those very same emotional reactions, amplified many times over.

Cataclysmic events like this one, with the whole world watching, can’t be kept under wraps. We’re still far from 20/20 clarity, but several key points seem clear:

1) It didn’t have to happen. The fundamental problem was not our decision to withdraw; it was its execution. The chaotic consequences of abruptly leaving Afghanistan after 20 years were predictable and called for careful, deliberate mitigation. Instead, it was done hastily to meet Biden’s arbitrary deadline, the 20th anniversary of 9/11.

2) We were not trapped in an “endless war.” Our 20-year Afghanistan adventure started as armed conflict with the Taliban, but over the years has morphed into more of a tense armed presence than a war. The mission may have been naïve and unclear, but it was not a waste. Our presence there helped to keep America safe and simultaneously made an immense difference in the lives of many Afghanis, particularly women and girls.

3) There were good reasons to stay. Afghanistan is a huge, remote, landlocked country, hemmed in by U.S. adversaries. Prior to our 2001 incursion it was used as a staging area for terrorism, including 9/11. Our airbase there (Bagram) and on-the-ground intelligence greatly enhanced U.S. and world security. Now they are gone.

Moreover, Biden was not forced, as he claimed, to choose between leaving Afghanistan altogether and sending a beefed-up armed force to pursue fruitless nation-building. There was no compelling reason for him to continue down the path started by his predecessor — he’s not hesitated to unravel nearly every other Trump legacy — and every reason to pursue a redefined, limited presence in Afghanistan.

4) It’s far from over. At this point, what matters is not how we got into this mess but how we get out of it. The challenges are immense. The task ahead, the only one that really counts, is to find and rescue every American citizen trapped in Afghanistan, along with the many Afghanis who trusted us and risked their lives to support us while we were there.

It is too soon to handicap the political implications of our Afghanistan debacle — they’ll sort themselves out soon enough. But right now, every one of us — left, right, or center — should be asking ourselves if we have a president with the requisite judgment, executive skill, and leadership to successfully confront the many challenges facing our country.

In this instance, Mr. Biden’s performance indicates that he does not. His decision-making, his administration’s execution of the withdrawal, and his public communications have been painfully inept. He keeps assuring us that “the buck stops with me” while continuing to dissemble and deflect blame. The buck is nowhere to be seen.

Biden’s collapse was sudden and decisive. In the blink of an eye, the carefully crafted Biden façade — the steady, moderate, compassionate foreign policy expert — all came crashing down, revealing a bumbling, evasive figurehead in way over his head. It was a Wizard of Oz moment.

We shouldn’t be surprised. Nothing in Joe Biden’s lifetime of government experience suggests that he’d be any better at executive leadership than he’s proven to be. He enjoyed a half-century of privileged service as a U.S. senator and vice president, with stature and influence but zero personal accountability for any decision he’s ever made. He’s a 78-year-old rookie.

The bus is in the ditch. We must stop the bleeding, put out the fires, and keep future casualties to an absolute minimum. A bold and successful effort to do so could rehabilitate Biden and more importantly restore some of the honor, reputation, and influence we gave away in the last two weeks.

Failing that, Joe Biden — and the nation — are in big trouble.