Poor Black Beauty
Last Thursday I had my first car accident. My poor car is totaled. It deserved a better death than what it got! Its been a few days filled with a lot of stress (that sadly I know is just beginning) so I'm trying to stay calm.
I was driving home from work. My plan was to pick up my laundry and then go to my parents house to do laundry and visit because my mom was going to make dinner for me. I was on the phone with Angie on the way to my apartment and someone cut me off. I made a joke about almost being in an accident. We were making jokes (poor form I know) about what hospital she'd have to come to if I was in an accident near my apartment. I told her St Anthonys (my old job!) which is about 10 minutes from my apartment. So I get off the phone with her, grab my laundry and head on out.
I am maybe 4 minutes from my apartment. I live off of a busy road called Telegraph Rd. Its busy from around 2pm-6pm with rush hour traffic and on the weekends its worse. So I am used to a lot of 'stop and go' traffic. Well I'm right in front of the big Wal-Mart and also the exit coming from the highway which is an even busier section of the road. Everybody starts to stop so I stop too since the person in front of me stopped. I was stopped for a good few seconds (anybody who was paying attention would be able to stop). All I remember is seeing a car in my side mirror and thinking "oh, he'll stop" and then BAM! He slammed into me. I flew forward, hit the car in front of me and I smacked my head on my seat. THANK GOD I had my seatbelt on. I actually lost my shoe from the impact. I got kind of dizzy because I hit my head so hard and again, this was my first accident. Anybody is shaky and kind of 'fuzzy' after an accident. The guy (his name is Kevin) got out of his car right away and came to my door and asked if I was okay. I was shaking so bad I couldn't talk really. The guy that I hit got out of his truck and ran to my car and asked me if I was okay. I just kind of nodded. I remembered to put my car in park and then turn it off and I started to kind of hyperventilate. It just scared me so bad. And I had major pain in my neck and my back.
Thankfully a police station is literally 1 minute from the accident and someone called them. I called my mom in the mean time (who even though I was talking and okay she FREAKED out LOL) and she told me "if you are in ANY pain go to the hospital. Do NOT wait". So when the cop came to my door I told him I needed to go to the hospital because my neck and back hurt really bad and that I had hit my head pretty hard. So then the ambulances came, then a firetruck and more cops. I called Angie. She must have heard the sirens because after I said "Angie?" her response was "you were NOT in an accident". How weird is that?! I called her 17 minutes after our conversation about car accidents. So the EMT's put me on that hard board and put that incredibly painful neck brace on and I was taken to the hospital. Everything was okay. Whiplash was the final diagnosis. I had to get X-Rays of my ribs (which are bruised from the seatbelt), clavicle, chest, back, and neck. Ugh. I am in a ton of pain. The guy was going about 35 MPH. I have to be honest. I never considered that to be too fast until later that evening when Angie was driving me to her house (I stayed with her so she could drive me around everywhere) and she was going 35. Damn thats fast!
So now I'm dealing with insurance. Namely HIS insurance company who doesn't want to pay. My car has 5,869 dollars worth of damage to it. My car is worth maybe half of that so its totaled. But they are claiming they can't get the police report (lies!) and that I should file a claim with my insurance company (lies again!) and that they have to speak with the guy I hit before they do anything (lies part III!!). I finally had it today and after talking to my mom and getting all fired up I called the lady and um...well I am pretty sure her feelings are hurt right now. I think because its my first accident maybe she thinks I'm stupid (which I kind of am in this sort of situation) but luckily I know people who can help me. And who tell me this lady is a no good liar and she knows its Kevin's fault and the insurance company doesn't want to pay so they'll wait around. Well! I won't have it! I don't want to turn it into my insurance because it'll make my premium go up. I will have to eventually if they don't do things a little faster but I think because now I am letting on that I know a few things and that I've talked to the police (who said they will fax her the report---she told me it would take 3 weeks for them to mail it) now she's going to do something. So keep your fingers crossed this is settled sooner rather than later (no easy task I know).
Here's my car. The pictures don't quite do it justice. People are like 'thats it?' but these are cell phone pictures. The frame is bent up its popping out on the sides. My laundry basket in the trunk actually got bent up LOL. Poor Black Beauty :(
