(no subject)
I had my first wreck today. I was hit by a bus on Quintard. I'm fine, not a scratch on me. My car isn't too happy. It's still driveable, but they'll probably total it out.
Before I begin, I would like to point out that the bus was at fault. The police officer even said, "The bus driver is at fault", so any of the following isn't biased and it's not exaggerated. Everything I describe is exactly what I saw and the thoughts are what ran through my mind.
I was driving down Quintard on my way to class. For those who aren't familiar with Quintard, it's part of Highway 21 that goes through Anniston. I was in the right lane, and he was driving parallel to me in the middle. I looked in front of the bus and saw a white car going kinda slow. Then out of the corner of my eye I saw the bus coming into my lane and thought "Here we go." I didn't even have enough time to hit my horn, but that wasn't my priority. I swerved as far to the curb as I could without hitting it. I didn't want to hit the curb and risk hitting a tree or something, and I also thought, as this bus was coming towards me, that if I drive up on the curb and damage my car, the bus driver will in no way claim responsibility, and I'll get the shaft. So I held tight, all of this taking place in less than a second from the time I saw him coming. Then I heard it. A noise consisting of half-crunch, half-pop. I yelled "DAMNIT!" and let my car coast for a few hundred feet before regaining my composure and pulling the car over. After I pulled it over, I didn't even get out. I didn't want to, I just wanted to be home. I called my mom. No answer. I called my dad, told him what had happened, and he said he'd be there in a few minutes.
I had already noticed that the driver side mirror was K.I.A. It still hung on by sinewy wires. I got out of my car and glanced at the damage. The bus driver approached me saying, "That woman in the white car just cut me off and kept going. She just cut me off the the tires were squealing on the bus..." (after that, I stopped listening or he stopped talking, I can't remember. I just replied "Yeah" unsure of what to think or say. I text messaged Lindsay to let her know. I wanted to explain things in the message so that she wouldn't be worried, but I didn't have time. I made it short and to the point "I got in a wreck" not even and punctuation, which is unusual for me. The driver looked at my car, pointed to part of my door missing and said, "I didn't do that?" I almost laughed, but held it in and said "Yeah, you did that." He half-scoffed and walked away. I paced around for awhile, answered repeated phone calls and just waited. He came back a few minutes later and said "You're gonna have to find what fell off, because I don't think I did that." So half-annoyed, I said "Well, alright, let's go look." After about a block of walking, we found it and a piece of my mirror. The driver wasn't pleased, but didn't say anything. We walked back to my car, and then I looked in the bus and noticed it was a school field trip from Tuscaloosa. I paced around some more until a fireman, who was driving by, pulled up, and made sure everyone was ok. Shortly after, a police car and a policeman on a motorcycle pulled up.
He too asked if everyone was ok. He then asked us to move into the Foodmax parking lot and told me that he'd need to see my license and proof of insurance. We had been sitting in the right lane for the past 10-15 minutes, blocking traffic. So we pulled in the parking lot. The motorcycle cop started writing some stuff down. I looked at my car again and realized I had left the part of the door and piece of mirror back there, so I walked back and got it and brought it to my car. The cop started asking the driver questions and the driver explained his side of the story. My dad pulled up as they were talking, and he took a look at my car. We talked until the bus driver walked back to the bus and drove off. The cop wrote some more stuff down and then came over. We shook his hand and my dad introduced himself as my father. The cop laughed and said "Ya. When I saw you pull up I thought, 'Here goes dad to see exactly what happened.'" He said "I just wanted to let ya'll know that the bus driver is at fault. He'll get a citation for an improper lane change." I felt relieved. I knew the accident hadn't been my fault, but I wasn't sure if everyone else would see that. He asked for my driver's license, so I gave him that and my insurance card. My dad said to him "I'm just glad it wasn't too bad, and that no one was hurt." He said, "Yeah, it could've been worse. I'm just glad no one was hurt. And ya know.. there really wasn't anything he (referring to me) could do. I mean, when you're just cornered like that, there's no where to go. I have to tell ya. I've owned a couple of Bonneville's and I've got to say, I've been nothin' but pleased with 'em." I asked him which models he had. He asked some minor questions such as "Do you still live on Morris Drive? What's your home phone number? Where you wearing a seat belt or safety restraint? Does the car have airbags? About what speed were you going?" They cop and my dad made some small talk. He told us when and where to pick up a copy of the police report and what to do with it. We shook hands again, and then drove off.
We took it to the insurance company to see what exactly we should do from here. He asked us a couple of questions and then told us to bring a copy of the report tomorrow. I drove home, and here I am. my first wreck was with a bus. That's the way to do it.
Before I begin, I would like to point out that the bus was at fault. The police officer even said, "The bus driver is at fault", so any of the following isn't biased and it's not exaggerated. Everything I describe is exactly what I saw and the thoughts are what ran through my mind.
I was driving down Quintard on my way to class. For those who aren't familiar with Quintard, it's part of Highway 21 that goes through Anniston. I was in the right lane, and he was driving parallel to me in the middle. I looked in front of the bus and saw a white car going kinda slow. Then out of the corner of my eye I saw the bus coming into my lane and thought "Here we go." I didn't even have enough time to hit my horn, but that wasn't my priority. I swerved as far to the curb as I could without hitting it. I didn't want to hit the curb and risk hitting a tree or something, and I also thought, as this bus was coming towards me, that if I drive up on the curb and damage my car, the bus driver will in no way claim responsibility, and I'll get the shaft. So I held tight, all of this taking place in less than a second from the time I saw him coming. Then I heard it. A noise consisting of half-crunch, half-pop. I yelled "DAMNIT!" and let my car coast for a few hundred feet before regaining my composure and pulling the car over. After I pulled it over, I didn't even get out. I didn't want to, I just wanted to be home. I called my mom. No answer. I called my dad, told him what had happened, and he said he'd be there in a few minutes.
I had already noticed that the driver side mirror was K.I.A. It still hung on by sinewy wires. I got out of my car and glanced at the damage. The bus driver approached me saying, "That woman in the white car just cut me off and kept going. She just cut me off the the tires were squealing on the bus..." (after that, I stopped listening or he stopped talking, I can't remember. I just replied "Yeah" unsure of what to think or say. I text messaged Lindsay to let her know. I wanted to explain things in the message so that she wouldn't be worried, but I didn't have time. I made it short and to the point "I got in a wreck" not even and punctuation, which is unusual for me. The driver looked at my car, pointed to part of my door missing and said, "I didn't do that?" I almost laughed, but held it in and said "Yeah, you did that." He half-scoffed and walked away. I paced around for awhile, answered repeated phone calls and just waited. He came back a few minutes later and said "You're gonna have to find what fell off, because I don't think I did that." So half-annoyed, I said "Well, alright, let's go look." After about a block of walking, we found it and a piece of my mirror. The driver wasn't pleased, but didn't say anything. We walked back to my car, and then I looked in the bus and noticed it was a school field trip from Tuscaloosa. I paced around some more until a fireman, who was driving by, pulled up, and made sure everyone was ok. Shortly after, a police car and a policeman on a motorcycle pulled up.
He too asked if everyone was ok. He then asked us to move into the Foodmax parking lot and told me that he'd need to see my license and proof of insurance. We had been sitting in the right lane for the past 10-15 minutes, blocking traffic. So we pulled in the parking lot. The motorcycle cop started writing some stuff down. I looked at my car again and realized I had left the part of the door and piece of mirror back there, so I walked back and got it and brought it to my car. The cop started asking the driver questions and the driver explained his side of the story. My dad pulled up as they were talking, and he took a look at my car. We talked until the bus driver walked back to the bus and drove off. The cop wrote some more stuff down and then came over. We shook his hand and my dad introduced himself as my father. The cop laughed and said "Ya. When I saw you pull up I thought, 'Here goes dad to see exactly what happened.'" He said "I just wanted to let ya'll know that the bus driver is at fault. He'll get a citation for an improper lane change." I felt relieved. I knew the accident hadn't been my fault, but I wasn't sure if everyone else would see that. He asked for my driver's license, so I gave him that and my insurance card. My dad said to him "I'm just glad it wasn't too bad, and that no one was hurt." He said, "Yeah, it could've been worse. I'm just glad no one was hurt. And ya know.. there really wasn't anything he (referring to me) could do. I mean, when you're just cornered like that, there's no where to go. I have to tell ya. I've owned a couple of Bonneville's and I've got to say, I've been nothin' but pleased with 'em." I asked him which models he had. He asked some minor questions such as "Do you still live on Morris Drive? What's your home phone number? Where you wearing a seat belt or safety restraint? Does the car have airbags? About what speed were you going?" They cop and my dad made some small talk. He told us when and where to pick up a copy of the police report and what to do with it. We shook hands again, and then drove off.
We took it to the insurance company to see what exactly we should do from here. He asked us a couple of questions and then told us to bring a copy of the report tomorrow. I drove home, and here I am. my first wreck was with a bus. That's the way to do it.