so maybe nobody cares about this but me, but i want to make a detailed record of my first major car accident. for posterity. lol
i had met with derek at the select, and when i went out to the parking lot, i was parked in by a food truck. derek offered to guide me out, but there turned out not to be enough space, so he offered to drive me to the butcher shop, where i was meeting my mom to help her with grocery shopping. but i said i'd call mom and have her pick me up at the select instead, and as the phone was ringing derek told me the truck was leaving, so i hung up. i was down to a quarter tank of gas, so i went to turkey hill to refill, but realized i'd left my wallet at home, b/c i was putting my driver's license number down on a form (i shd probably memorize that number sometime). so i went straight to the butcher shop.
the road past the butcher shop the speed limit is 55. but i haven't been to that store in awhile and i didn't remember precisely where it was, so i was driving a little slow--maybe 50. i realized there was a white van behind me that was tailgating, and i thought maybe i was driving too slow for him, so i speeded up to the limit, and he backed off. of course, that meant that when i did get to the store, i had to brake harder than usual to make the turn. as i was making the turn i glanced up in my rear-view mirror and saw the van heading for me, and knew it wasn't slowing down enough and it was going to hit me, so i was ready for the bang.
BANG!
i spun, and i remember flopping around a bit like a rag doll, and i also remember thinking that the initial impact didn't hurt me, but if i spun into a telephone pole or a tree i could be badly injured, and then i thought, "don't worry about that unless it happens". then the car came to a stop, and i realized i hadn't hit anything, though i was quite close to a tree.
so i put the car in park and turned off the engine, and the key wouldn't come out of the ignition. so i left it, and then i thought, "i should probably get out." weirdly, my first thought was to go out the passenger door--probably because the tree was outside the driver's side door. but i tried my door and it opened fine, so i unbuckled my seatbelt and got out--and the driver of the van was RUNNING FULL SPEED down toward me with a look of absolute horror on his face. so i got out and put my hands up and said, "I'M FINE." He asked me if i was sure, and i said yeah, and he put his hands on his knees and breathed deeply for a minute. turned out he had hurt his back a little and cut his hand, but he was mostly okay. he said he was going to lose his job--he was driving a company truck. turned out, i found out later, he had swerved a little to try to avoid me, and after he hit me he went across the road and hit the guardrail.
the neighbors were out looking, and some employees from the shop came out--one of whom knew me and insisted on giving me a hug. i thought for a minute i was gonna cry, because that's my automatic reaction to people showing me sympathy when something has happened, but the moment passed and i was fine. really, i was remarkably unshaken by the whole thing--i hadn't had time between the impact and discovering i wasn't hurt to be scared. one of the employees said my car was totaled, and i looked, and sure enough, the whole back part was all bent up. i was actually surprised. then the employee lent me her phone and said i should call 911 and i did. they transferred me like three times, which was confusing, but it turned out somebody else had already called the state police and they were on their way. they kept asking me if we needed an ambulance, but i told them that although the other guy had hurt his back, he was walking fine. i knew my mom was coming to meet me at the shop, so i didn't even bother calling her.
the other driver said that he had seen a reflection or something on the company cell phone, which was apparently on the seat beside him, and had looked down for a moment to see if someone was calling him, and when he looked up, there i was. at first he said he didn't even see my turn signal or brake lights, but later he said he saw them out of the corner of his eye and looked up just before he hit me. he said again that he was going to lose his job--because this was his FOURTH ACCIDENT in a company vehicle! the first one was after the first snow of the winter and he hit another company vehicle in a company lot, but there wasn't much damage. then he backed into a pole. THEN he cut some lady off at an intersection! by the end of this recital, i felt like he DESERVED to lose his job!
i knew my mom was coming and i wanted to make sure she knew i was alright before she saw the car, so i made sure i was visible when she was pulling in, and i smiled and waved. she said later i looked like the cat who had got the canary. but then she saw the car, and you should have seen her jaw drop!! the guy's boss also showed up, and so did a state trooper, who was nice but business-like--no chit-chat--and it turned out that it wasn't a big deal that i didn't have my license on me because he asked for my name and address and birthdate and apparently looked me up in the database. he also called us a tow-truck. the back bumper of the car FELL OFF as they were towing the car out of the flower bed, and i started laughing. i had a bunch of cardboard boxes and plastic tubs in the back seat because i had been moving, and the guy's boss told me there was a tub lid a short distance away in the bushes--so apparently, the back window shattered on impact, and the lid must have flown out of it while i was spinning. i spun 180 degrees and went backward down an embankment--i missed almost everything, including a yucca plant. i told mom i was completely fine (i had to tell people this MANY TIMES, of course), except that i had broken a nail. lol the employee who came out told my mom there was a small red spot over my right eyebrow, but it didn't hurt and it never turned into anything--my guess is that i hit my head on the edge of my sunshade. the outside of my left calf hurt just a little, so i figured i bruised it, altho the bruise wasn't visible until last night. i also felt a little sore just under my ribs at one point, but that disappeared. today, of course, my neck is quite sore and my abs feel like i've been doing a lot of situps--it's all muscular, though. i also have a couple more bruises on my legs.
the guy's boss was VERY nice and apologetic, and before he left the other driver apologized profusely again for the accident. i felt bad for him--but i still think he kind of deserves to get fired. i mean, if you've been in that many accidents... plus he WAS tailgating me, so even the "fluke" of him looking down for a moment at the wrong time might not have resulted in an accident if not for that. but i'm not feeling vindictive. i hope his back is okay, too...
i'm a little bit hypervigilant on the road, but i drove that same evening and again today, so that's no problem. honestly, although i'm of course upset that my poor old Stan was totaled, and that this is a financial burden on my parents, i really wasn't upset by the accident itself. in fact, weirdly enough, it was kind of exciting.
Photos!
EDIT: When I talked to the insurance rep, he told me that the guy had indeed been fired--apparently he had attended a safe driving seminar THE DAY BEFORE! The rep goes, "Apparently he wasn't paying attention." I was like, "Yeah, that seemed to be the problem when he hit me, too."
i had met with derek at the select, and when i went out to the parking lot, i was parked in by a food truck. derek offered to guide me out, but there turned out not to be enough space, so he offered to drive me to the butcher shop, where i was meeting my mom to help her with grocery shopping. but i said i'd call mom and have her pick me up at the select instead, and as the phone was ringing derek told me the truck was leaving, so i hung up. i was down to a quarter tank of gas, so i went to turkey hill to refill, but realized i'd left my wallet at home, b/c i was putting my driver's license number down on a form (i shd probably memorize that number sometime). so i went straight to the butcher shop.
the road past the butcher shop the speed limit is 55. but i haven't been to that store in awhile and i didn't remember precisely where it was, so i was driving a little slow--maybe 50. i realized there was a white van behind me that was tailgating, and i thought maybe i was driving too slow for him, so i speeded up to the limit, and he backed off. of course, that meant that when i did get to the store, i had to brake harder than usual to make the turn. as i was making the turn i glanced up in my rear-view mirror and saw the van heading for me, and knew it wasn't slowing down enough and it was going to hit me, so i was ready for the bang.
BANG!
i spun, and i remember flopping around a bit like a rag doll, and i also remember thinking that the initial impact didn't hurt me, but if i spun into a telephone pole or a tree i could be badly injured, and then i thought, "don't worry about that unless it happens". then the car came to a stop, and i realized i hadn't hit anything, though i was quite close to a tree.
so i put the car in park and turned off the engine, and the key wouldn't come out of the ignition. so i left it, and then i thought, "i should probably get out." weirdly, my first thought was to go out the passenger door--probably because the tree was outside the driver's side door. but i tried my door and it opened fine, so i unbuckled my seatbelt and got out--and the driver of the van was RUNNING FULL SPEED down toward me with a look of absolute horror on his face. so i got out and put my hands up and said, "I'M FINE." He asked me if i was sure, and i said yeah, and he put his hands on his knees and breathed deeply for a minute. turned out he had hurt his back a little and cut his hand, but he was mostly okay. he said he was going to lose his job--he was driving a company truck. turned out, i found out later, he had swerved a little to try to avoid me, and after he hit me he went across the road and hit the guardrail.
the neighbors were out looking, and some employees from the shop came out--one of whom knew me and insisted on giving me a hug. i thought for a minute i was gonna cry, because that's my automatic reaction to people showing me sympathy when something has happened, but the moment passed and i was fine. really, i was remarkably unshaken by the whole thing--i hadn't had time between the impact and discovering i wasn't hurt to be scared. one of the employees said my car was totaled, and i looked, and sure enough, the whole back part was all bent up. i was actually surprised. then the employee lent me her phone and said i should call 911 and i did. they transferred me like three times, which was confusing, but it turned out somebody else had already called the state police and they were on their way. they kept asking me if we needed an ambulance, but i told them that although the other guy had hurt his back, he was walking fine. i knew my mom was coming to meet me at the shop, so i didn't even bother calling her.
the other driver said that he had seen a reflection or something on the company cell phone, which was apparently on the seat beside him, and had looked down for a moment to see if someone was calling him, and when he looked up, there i was. at first he said he didn't even see my turn signal or brake lights, but later he said he saw them out of the corner of his eye and looked up just before he hit me. he said again that he was going to lose his job--because this was his FOURTH ACCIDENT in a company vehicle! the first one was after the first snow of the winter and he hit another company vehicle in a company lot, but there wasn't much damage. then he backed into a pole. THEN he cut some lady off at an intersection! by the end of this recital, i felt like he DESERVED to lose his job!
i knew my mom was coming and i wanted to make sure she knew i was alright before she saw the car, so i made sure i was visible when she was pulling in, and i smiled and waved. she said later i looked like the cat who had got the canary. but then she saw the car, and you should have seen her jaw drop!! the guy's boss also showed up, and so did a state trooper, who was nice but business-like--no chit-chat--and it turned out that it wasn't a big deal that i didn't have my license on me because he asked for my name and address and birthdate and apparently looked me up in the database. he also called us a tow-truck. the back bumper of the car FELL OFF as they were towing the car out of the flower bed, and i started laughing. i had a bunch of cardboard boxes and plastic tubs in the back seat because i had been moving, and the guy's boss told me there was a tub lid a short distance away in the bushes--so apparently, the back window shattered on impact, and the lid must have flown out of it while i was spinning. i spun 180 degrees and went backward down an embankment--i missed almost everything, including a yucca plant. i told mom i was completely fine (i had to tell people this MANY TIMES, of course), except that i had broken a nail. lol the employee who came out told my mom there was a small red spot over my right eyebrow, but it didn't hurt and it never turned into anything--my guess is that i hit my head on the edge of my sunshade. the outside of my left calf hurt just a little, so i figured i bruised it, altho the bruise wasn't visible until last night. i also felt a little sore just under my ribs at one point, but that disappeared. today, of course, my neck is quite sore and my abs feel like i've been doing a lot of situps--it's all muscular, though. i also have a couple more bruises on my legs.
the guy's boss was VERY nice and apologetic, and before he left the other driver apologized profusely again for the accident. i felt bad for him--but i still think he kind of deserves to get fired. i mean, if you've been in that many accidents... plus he WAS tailgating me, so even the "fluke" of him looking down for a moment at the wrong time might not have resulted in an accident if not for that. but i'm not feeling vindictive. i hope his back is okay, too...
i'm a little bit hypervigilant on the road, but i drove that same evening and again today, so that's no problem. honestly, although i'm of course upset that my poor old Stan was totaled, and that this is a financial burden on my parents, i really wasn't upset by the accident itself. in fact, weirdly enough, it was kind of exciting.
Photos!
EDIT: When I talked to the insurance rep, he told me that the guy had indeed been fired--apparently he had attended a safe driving seminar THE DAY BEFORE! The rep goes, "Apparently he wasn't paying attention." I was like, "Yeah, that seemed to be the problem when he hit me, too."