My first car accident
So we were driving down the Gateway Mwy yesterday, traffic was tight. Stop, go, stop, go, speed up a little, stop, go, stop and so on. Sitting there stopped, waiting for the next go period to get through that stupid bottle neck where they have two lanes merge in a matter of 1km taking us from 4 lanes to 2 when all of a sudden the car is jerked forward. I was all WTF?! Mike was all 'did you just get hit?!'
So here we are in the middle of the motorway where you're not actually allowed to stop and I'm sitting there thinking wtf do I do? I've never been in this situation before, I don't know the protocol. I figure ok we'll keep going until the next exit especially seeing as that's the exit I need to take anyway. So this car is following me (a lot less closely now!) and I'm thinking he'll follow me off at the next exit so we can exchange details right? Wrong! I exit and he keeps going. I must have known he was going to do that cause I made Mike take down his number plate.
I figure he saw there was no damage to my car so no harm no foul right? However my back is aching, still this morning. Not too bad really but seeing as I tend to have a bad back anyway and my job requires me to lean over and paint kids it does worry me some. However my period has begun today so maybe the sore lower back just has something to do with that rather than the accident, how would I know? Mike also has a sore neck and was feeling light headed last night. How hard do you have to be hit to potentially have medical damage done to you? We were jerked forward, though Rory and Eric didn't seem to have been hurt.
Got out and had a look at our car and like I said there was no damage done to the car seeing as we have this ruddy big, long, tow bar and ball on it. The other guys number plate was all bent out of shape though and I think the tow ball took a bit of the paint off it. His was only a little zip zip car and mine is a beast so there's no way he would have damaged our car too badly anyway, his would have been crumpled like a bit of weak tin if he had've been going faster I imagine. Have I mentioned that I bought my own car? I now own my own car? :) Exciting!
Anyway I called the police station this morning just to find out the protocol cause I'm clueless as to how I should procede in this situation. There was no damage done to the car and I'm fairly certain that you don't have to report accidents unless there's been over $2500 worth of damage done or some such thing. However with my back and Mike's neck I worry that there might be medical bills in the future which that guy would need to pay for. So I called the cops and spoke to some chick who said I can write everything down and if it looks like I'll be wanting compensation for medical expenses then to go in and make a statement on Monday.
If it happens like that then the guy will be tracked down and brought in and asked why he didn't remain at the scene of an accident and he'll be fined for not stopping. I guess I'll wait and see how my back goes and how Mike's neck goes. But that's my story of my very first accident! I'm glad it wasn't any worse and I'm glad I have comprehensive insurance! :)
So here we are in the middle of the motorway where you're not actually allowed to stop and I'm sitting there thinking wtf do I do? I've never been in this situation before, I don't know the protocol. I figure ok we'll keep going until the next exit especially seeing as that's the exit I need to take anyway. So this car is following me (a lot less closely now!) and I'm thinking he'll follow me off at the next exit so we can exchange details right? Wrong! I exit and he keeps going. I must have known he was going to do that cause I made Mike take down his number plate.
I figure he saw there was no damage to my car so no harm no foul right? However my back is aching, still this morning. Not too bad really but seeing as I tend to have a bad back anyway and my job requires me to lean over and paint kids it does worry me some. However my period has begun today so maybe the sore lower back just has something to do with that rather than the accident, how would I know? Mike also has a sore neck and was feeling light headed last night. How hard do you have to be hit to potentially have medical damage done to you? We were jerked forward, though Rory and Eric didn't seem to have been hurt.
Got out and had a look at our car and like I said there was no damage done to the car seeing as we have this ruddy big, long, tow bar and ball on it. The other guys number plate was all bent out of shape though and I think the tow ball took a bit of the paint off it. His was only a little zip zip car and mine is a beast so there's no way he would have damaged our car too badly anyway, his would have been crumpled like a bit of weak tin if he had've been going faster I imagine. Have I mentioned that I bought my own car? I now own my own car? :) Exciting!
Anyway I called the police station this morning just to find out the protocol cause I'm clueless as to how I should procede in this situation. There was no damage done to the car and I'm fairly certain that you don't have to report accidents unless there's been over $2500 worth of damage done or some such thing. However with my back and Mike's neck I worry that there might be medical bills in the future which that guy would need to pay for. So I called the cops and spoke to some chick who said I can write everything down and if it looks like I'll be wanting compensation for medical expenses then to go in and make a statement on Monday.
If it happens like that then the guy will be tracked down and brought in and asked why he didn't remain at the scene of an accident and he'll be fined for not stopping. I guess I'll wait and see how my back goes and how Mike's neck goes. But that's my story of my very first accident! I'm glad it wasn't any worse and I'm glad I have comprehensive insurance! :)