Rearended
Sadly, I refer not to my or anyone else's lovely backside. Last night long about 7pm, I'm driving from Santa Cruz (where I was visiting a friend for the day) to Mountain View (where I was going to have dinner with a friend) before heading to the city for a Birthday Party at the Glaskat (mmm, busy days). I'm humming along "in the number one lane" going about 75 70 65mph, happy to be driving a sexy sporty car thanks to the generosity of the friend who lent it to me. 1/2 mile from my exit, I see traffic has slowed down up ahead. It was a little sudden, but not terribly, and since I'm not speeding to the point most folks in the #1 lane do (85, 90), I have some time/space to slow down. Still 100, 200(?) yards from the nearest car, I level out around 40-45 mph and try to assess this new speed is sufficiently slowed before heading for the exit lane when *BAM* someone slams into my rear. The car surges forward (thanks transfer of momentum) and my head snaps back. At first I kept driving, slightly shocked (so maybe it wasn't even for as long as it felt) and I had to remember that in these situations the standard protocol is to just get off the fucking road ASAP and not worry about the fact your on a fucking freeway. So I get over to the little left shoulder (not much wider than the car, really) and make sure the other driver is behind me - she is.
I'm out of the car and saying "oh my god!" because the trunk's almost gone, the hood flopping in the wind and the rear bumper is hanging from one side of the car, nothing but a dangling piece of twisted car flesh. I kinda babble about how this a) isn't my car and b) my friend *just* bought the sexy little bitch after her car was stolen in November (yeah, maybe my priorities aren't completely straight). The other person asked if I was ok and then tried to tell me I was "stopped on the freeway". "No, I had slowed down, but I wasn't stopped" "oh, ok" At least she also said that she took full responsibility, so we went about finding pen&paper to get me her information. At which point I remember my backpack, with my laptop was in the trunk. I go look, and it's way at the front of what's left of the trunk, in a little pocket of protected bliss - a bitch to pull out, but fully functional upon inspection (later, at my friend's house). Also to Ms. Driver's credit, when I paranoidly wrote down her name, DL# and LP# independently of the information she wrote down for me, she didn't complain too strongly (I'm all "it's not my car, so I'm extra paranoid").
While she's working on getting her information and talking to the people she needs to talk to, I call 911, and get put on hold... several times "I'm sorry, all our operators are busy, please stay on the line" - lucky for us we had no serious injuries). By the time i get through, they already have the CHP enroute. So, I sit and talk with the carowner about logistics, my other friend about the fact I'll be late for dinner, and a third friend about possibly finding out just how far my AAA will let me tow the car). CHP knocks on the window and asks me if I can drive the car off the freeway - they've blocked all four lanes of traffic and tell me not to worry about if the bumper falls off. We exit at Ampitheater and pull into Google's parking lot to complete our business - my friend had requested I file a police report and the two officers take our statements separately. I get questioned by this young, fairly cute cop who keeps asking me questions that aren't strictly necessary as he copies the information from my license ("so, do you go to Berkeley? Do you like it? What's your major?"). Haha.
Things start to settle down as my cop runs off to another crash, the tow truck comes and takes the little red piece of broken candy to the Mt. View tow yard, and the other cop hangs with me until my friend from half a mile away and her two kids come to get me. Apparently, my little adventure was only 1 of 5 crashes they'd attended to in a 2 hour span, 4 of which were on this cops beat alone. Crazy for a nice clear not rainy at all night.
Today, I head over to my friend's house and we'll sort out the rest of the insurance stuff. My neck's a little sore, and my heart a little heavy, but she's turning out to be one of the best friends ever.
I'm out of the car and saying "oh my god!" because the trunk's almost gone, the hood flopping in the wind and the rear bumper is hanging from one side of the car, nothing but a dangling piece of twisted car flesh. I kinda babble about how this a) isn't my car and b) my friend *just* bought the sexy little bitch after her car was stolen in November (yeah, maybe my priorities aren't completely straight). The other person asked if I was ok and then tried to tell me I was "stopped on the freeway". "No, I had slowed down, but I wasn't stopped" "oh, ok" At least she also said that she took full responsibility, so we went about finding pen&paper to get me her information. At which point I remember my backpack, with my laptop was in the trunk. I go look, and it's way at the front of what's left of the trunk, in a little pocket of protected bliss - a bitch to pull out, but fully functional upon inspection (later, at my friend's house). Also to Ms. Driver's credit, when I paranoidly wrote down her name, DL# and LP# independently of the information she wrote down for me, she didn't complain too strongly (I'm all "it's not my car, so I'm extra paranoid").
While she's working on getting her information and talking to the people she needs to talk to, I call 911, and get put on hold... several times "I'm sorry, all our operators are busy, please stay on the line" - lucky for us we had no serious injuries). By the time i get through, they already have the CHP enroute. So, I sit and talk with the carowner about logistics, my other friend about the fact I'll be late for dinner, and a third friend about possibly finding out just how far my AAA will let me tow the car). CHP knocks on the window and asks me if I can drive the car off the freeway - they've blocked all four lanes of traffic and tell me not to worry about if the bumper falls off. We exit at Ampitheater and pull into Google's parking lot to complete our business - my friend had requested I file a police report and the two officers take our statements separately. I get questioned by this young, fairly cute cop who keeps asking me questions that aren't strictly necessary as he copies the information from my license ("so, do you go to Berkeley? Do you like it? What's your major?"). Haha.
Things start to settle down as my cop runs off to another crash, the tow truck comes and takes the little red piece of broken candy to the Mt. View tow yard, and the other cop hangs with me until my friend from half a mile away and her two kids come to get me. Apparently, my little adventure was only 1 of 5 crashes they'd attended to in a 2 hour span, 4 of which were on this cops beat alone. Crazy for a nice clear not rainy at all night.
Today, I head over to my friend's house and we'll sort out the rest of the insurance stuff. My neck's a little sore, and my heart a little heavy, but she's turning out to be one of the best friends ever.