I was driving home today, and there was a light drizzle. I was on NW 41st Street just past 97th Avenue headed west, driving relatively slowly because of the bad road conditions. This is just in front of the Publix.
The car in front of me stopped — for no apparent reason — but I was driving below the speed limit and managed to stop in time with several inches to spare. I looked in my rear-view mirror because I figured I’d pass the car in front of me since it was clearly lost. I happened to see an old gold Chrysler headed towards me going at least 60mph. There was no way in hell for it to stop in time. There was also no safe egress from my current lane.
The car in front of me started to go again, which was the only mercy. I know one thing, if a mobile object hits an immobile object, things are much worse, so I took my foot off the brake pedal and prepared to step on the gas pedal. Just as I did, I heard the guy slam on his brakes and his car started to slide, but sure enough he didn’t stop in time. He hit me at close to 50mph, maybe more.
My seatbelt locked, I went forward, and hurt the left side of my neck and left shoulder (my bad one) badly. It was throbbing almost immediately — the muscles were. My teeth hurt, probably from clenching. Worse, my back (just about over my right kidney) started to hurt and I have no idea why. I am also now getting some pain on my mid-back below the left shoulder blade just above the left kidney area. I have since taken a pair of whizzes and there is no sign of blood.
I pulled into the parking lot of the Publix we were in front of. His car limped in behind me before giving up the ghost. We both got out in the rain, I called the police (911) and was left on hold for nearly 15 minutes. I reported it, and they asked if anyone was hurt to which I (stupidly) said, I don’t think so. I’m sore but I think I’m okay.
My Car (Follow image to Flickr for notes)
This picture came out crappy, but I’ll try and take more with a better camera when it dries up outside.
The cop arrived at 110pm and it was raining a bit harder. He came to me first since I was the one that was hit. I told him what happened. I showed him the damage. He asked if the hatch still worked. We tried it. It didn’t. He asked what else was there besides the bumper and I told him the back-up sensors were trashed. (I have since discovered they are sensing just not correctly apparently my garage door is invisible.) He asked if the fuel tank was ruptured because there is damage right over the area it was in. We checked and there was nothing dripping, so at least that’s okay: apparently, I dodged a serious bullet there. BMWs are built pretty sturdy — compare my damage to the guy who hit me. He’s totalled. I’m not, though the cop estimates my damage upwards of $3,000.
He got my registration, license, and insurance. The other guy only had a license. He didn’t speak English, and a good Samaritan offered to translate. In South Florida people love to see what’s going on and stick their noses in, but in this case, it was a good thing since the cop spoke no Spanish and mine is pretty useless unless food or fasteners are involved.
There were no witnesses to the accident itself: by that I mean the people who saw it vanished in true South Florida fashion. At least the damage, street debris, skid marks, all prove the accident happened pretty much as advertised.
The cop asked the guy Rodolfo Salamanca Aguila) for his driver’s license, insurance, and registration. He had his driver’s license but neither of the other two items. The cop asked him if it was his car and he said yes. Subsequently the cop asked him again — after running the tag in the computer — and replied that it wasn’t his car but his wife’s. Don’t lie to a cop. That’s dumb.
The Guy’s Car (Follow the image to Flickr for notes)
As you can see, he hit me hard as the engine is totally ruined and the whole front of his car is crumpled.
{Picture]
Anyway, well after 2pm, the cop finished the paperwork as the rain got worse and worse and worse. At some point, maybe 130ish, the cop instructed us to get in our respective cars when the thunder and lightning hit. He drove back and forth and spoke to us through his rolled down windows. While I was waiting for the report to be done, I also call Dad, Mom, Grandma, and Karen and informed them of incident.
Finally, he gave me a copy of the report; he did get out of the car for this came over, helped me check my tail lights (they work!) and sent me on my way, telling me the other gentleman was going to be there for a while yet to receive his multiple citations.
I came home, just a short drive, and immediately called the Hartford and reported the accident. That took at least a half hour. As it’s one question after another. They were happy that I had a detailed incident report and such and even more happy I took photos with my mobile phone. If you’re ever in an accident, remember to do it!. Two of my four mobile phone images came out. I rarely use the photo feature on my phone so not sure what I did wrong.
I feel much worse than when I was in Timmy’s car and got rear-ended because this was well over double the speed. That accident I didn’t feel really bad until about 36 hours later. I feel pretty bad right now. If I feel worse in the morning, I’ll go to the ER. This really sucks.
This is my first real accident (by which I mean where I was the operator of one of the involved vehicles) in which there was significant damage to the vehicle.
I’m supposed to see Wanda Sykes tonight with Karen and I’m not sure if I can. We’ll see how I feel at 5ish.
(This post edited at 424pm to fix multiple grammar errors, typos, and other irritants as well as to add the links to Flickr.)