I read it somewhere on the Internet...
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| The Medieval Bestseller I read it somewhere on the Internet... |
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Thursday, July 26, 2007
For how good yesterday was, today has been horrible. The short story This morning, as I was driving to work, a van stopped short ahead of me on the freeway transition from the 5 to the 118. I stopped with about 5 or 6 feet to spare, looked into my rearview mirror and thought to myself, "Oh no." Because the guy behind me smashed right into me, the impact so strong so as to push my car into the back of the van in front of me. Then the guy behind me backed up and sped away on the 118. I managed to get his license plate number, pulled over to the side of the road, then called 911, then the CHP came and took a report. Jumbled Commentary (not sure if it's jumbled because I'm feeling particularly jumbled today, or if it's just because I'm always a little jumbled) Pictures of the damage can be found here. So apparently even if you catch the license plate number of the car responsible for a hit-and-run, it's not enough information...you also have to be able to identify the driver. But the thing is that it's all in an instant and the cops & insurance people ask all of these questions about minutiae of the accident...was the car behind you swerving, did its hood dip under or continue straight, what time was the accident, how did you physically respond to the impact, how many impacts did you feel, what did it sound like, what did the driver look like, how old was he, what kind of car, etc., etc., etc. That was probably the most frustrating thing, trying to remember all sorts of input that happened in a moment's notice and be certain of it all. The accident happened very close to one of the hospitals I work at. I see many MVAs (motor vehicle accidents) come into the trauma room and, after my shock was gone and I was able to really comprehend what happened, I found myself so thankful that I am physically fine. I mean, I see people bloody and falling apart and all I have is a slight headache and a little bit of soreness in my neck. I think it would have been really bizarre to be on the trauma room table instead of merely in the room, checking all of the information and calling family, etc. My airbags didn't deploy and, although I'm glad that they didn't, shouldn't they have? My insurance allows me to get a rental car at $20/day for up to a month. I'm signed up for one, but haven't gone in to get it just yet. Whereas at the time it sounded like a good idea, now I'm thinking: Do I potentially want to spend $600 that I wasn't going to spend in the first place? I think I may try to make-do without having a rental car until my car is fixed. My dad met up with me after I pulled off of the freeway and talked with the CHP officers. He gave me the keys to his car and said, "Here's my car, go to work." So I went. But I was really shaken up and, at that point, got a little weepy whenever I thought of it. So I taught for about two hours and then came home. Beside this, my dad followed the car to the body shop and the guy there gave my dad a rough estimate of $8000 to fix. Ouch. Insurance will cover most of it, but still... I hope they don't total my car. I really can't afford to get another car right now. I think I might have PTSD. Now, when I am driving my dad's car, I find myself flinching at any cars that even come close, particularly if they're in my rearview mirror. The CHP officers who came to my aid were particularly attractive. And no, Carrie, they did not have any facial hair. (although I'm sure they'd be even more attractive with facial hair!) Today is the first time I've ever called 911. Interesting note - if you call 911 on your cell phone, it'll say "SOS." I did not know that. I also was a little afraid of calling 911. You hear of all of these stories about how people call 911 erroneously and I was wondering if my call would be serious enough for their jurisdiction. I ended up asking one of the officers who came to my aid if it was OK to call 911 in this instance, and he said it was appropriate to call 911 for any accident on the freeway. So there you go. - Jenny, 7/26/2007 02:40:00 PM |
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