Got rear ended while parked on a quiet residential street today. I pulled over and parked to make a phone call. The safe thing to do, right? Well who would have thunk it? While in mid-conversation, a guy in a truck who wasn't paying attention because he was looking for a particular street or some such, veered of the main part of the road and into my car at full speed.

What a surprise for both of us! His car went from whatever speed he was going to a dead stop and mine went from a dead stop with parking brakes engaged to whatever speed before it came to a stop about 10 feet from where I started. It hit hard enough to even take the hat off my head.

I must say though, that the Infiniti G35 coupe is built to protect the passengers. The bumper smashed and the truck hit hard enough to go into the frame. I can see the crumple lines going up to the door. That took up a lot of the force, I think. And I am really happy that there was nothing in front of me, because if there was, I probably would have been hurt. And I am especially thankful that neither of my kids were in the car. As it was, it was a stunner. Although now, as the adrenaline has worn off, I feel little aches. And hopefully no whip lash. I didn't hit my head except on the head rest, but I did have a momentary bout of nausea. So my wife insists on taking me to go get checked out tomorrow.

There are several things that I am bummed about...the loss of time and money. The guy didn't have insurance. And I am even sorry he had to go to jail. He seemed nice enough, but not only did was he driving without a license, but he had four (I think) warrants out for his arrest. After he hit me, I saw him try to back up and I think drive off. He thought there was no one in the car. But when I got out of the car, he stepped out to face the music. I give him credit for that, because he kept saying he was going to jail today. But I did not wish that on him.

But I am thankful that we both walked away from it.

Anyway, I guess this was kind of a survival story.

I'll thank God that you're safe and sound!!!

get checked out--whiplash is tricky stuff..
and another--"who would think" kind of story..which is why
we try try to stay prepared..

Thanks guys.

Although how do you prepare for something like that besides strengthening your neck and back and core? I am happy that I have been adding yoga and Tai Chi to my exercise routine.

Yeah, the first thing my wife said after she gave me a hug was she was taking me to go get checked out tomorrow. When I told her I would go, she said that she would drive me. I must have looked more shaken than I felt.

But not to worry... I am only shaken, not stirred.

One prepares for these kind of incidents, in part,by living honorably. What goes around, comes around--Karma. You must be living right,,,,or else you would have been IN the car!!!!

Good Luck on your Dr's visit!!!!

I'm glad you're all right. And I do hope you're just shaken and not stirred. It wouldn't hurt to get checked out TONIGHT.

At least you weren't blenderized!

Sue

Walk away = good. +1 on the Tai Chi. Great stuff. Glad you're okay.

HEY!! I WAS in the car. I think if I wasn't in the car, I would be dead. The impact sent the car with parking brakes on, ten feet. Not in the car means I would have gone 50+ feet and be broken instead of the car being broken.

But I get your point though. Thanks for your comments. I AM thankful that we both walked away from it. And especially thankful I had no kids in the car and a pedestrian didn't get hit.

I was just remembering back a couple of days ago when an elderly lady standing next to me at a cross walk just passed out and fell into the street and into traffic. For a split second, I thought it was a staged thing, then I grabbed her and got her back on the sidewalk, got someone to call 911, and fortunately, a police car rolled around the corner. He was near and saw the whole thing and had already called for an ambulance. Poor lady fell right on her face and was bloodied up and spit out a bunch of teeth when she came to. And that was just from a fall from the standing position. It seems to me that when people get hit by cars traveling at speed, they seem to die most of the time. So for what it is worth, I am happy I was inside the car when it happened!

And thanks to you too, Susan. I just spent an hour with my kids getting them ready for bed and other than a few little aches, I feel ok. I think I will keep until the morning. I am not ready to go yet and want to watch my kids grow up and see my grandkids, and travel with my wife as old farts before I will be ready to go. Keep your fingers crossed for me!

Thanks LED, I like your math!

I think my meaning "not in the car" - folks meant like the time my car got totaled - it was out on the street - I was asleep in my bed in the house. The car was totaled - I didn't get hurt except for $$

I'm glad you came out of this with no apparent major injury.

I agree with CANOEDOGS and Susan that you should get checked out. I am still having neck problems that my chiropractor and I think were caused by whiplash from a rear end collision. At the time I felt fine, but problems developed over time. So, an ounce of prevention, etc.

The Uninsured Motorist insurance coverage always grates on me when I have to pay it, but I've had to use it twice. One of my brothers is a police officer, and he's always said we would be amazed and scared at how many people he has stopped that didn't have insurance.

Don't feel too bad about the guy going to jail. Four warrants?! He obviously has created more problems than just your accident.

After being rearended more than once, I always keep an eye on the rearview mirror when someone approaches me. As my brother told me, "Yes they are stupid, yes they are crazy, and yes they are trying to kill you. Think of it as a game. You try to guess which one will try to hit you and when, and then if you're right, AND AVOID THEM, you win the game." This is defensive driving taken to the next level. On the other side of the coin, I try to drive in a predictable fashion, so that other drivers know what I intend to do. That's on my good days. On my bad days, if I had a vehicle mounted phaser...

Seriously, I hope you're fine, and your insurance company gets you a replacement Infiniti right away. Thanks for sharing your incident, and I'm sorry it happened to you.

Dang, you are a nicer guy than me. Feeling sorry for an uninsured driver whith four warrents who totalled your car? Then again, maybe that's why God let you live...

Keep being a nice guy, Aloha. That why we all love ya.

-Mark

At least you have a real police force. Last year two kids swung into my driveway so fast they left skid marks then bounced off the side of my truck and ended up in the wall of my garage. The police cited the driver for failure to maintain control but that was it. They were able to walk down to the parents house and flush their drugs in the 30 minutes it took the police to get there. They gave the police their father's insurance information which promptly declined the claim becauase the father didn't give permission for them to take his truck. So she got a $50 ticket and my insurance got to pay out $12,000.
IMHO she should have gotten cited for having no insurance, giveing false information to the police (the insurance policy infor that she wasn't under) as well as a DUI and stolen vehicle charge.

Honestly, preparing for an accident itself is pretty much the standard stuff. Wear your seat belt, don’t have a bunch of unsecured projectiles laying around in the car, and have at least a basic medical kit in the car. Only some of that really applied to your accident, since there were no first-aid-able injuries.

What seems to be just as important is preparing for the aftermath of the accident. Keep your medical insurance up to snuff, keep your automobile insurance up to snuff, and (as Doug relates in his articles) keep phone numbers for attorneys that will happily send the insurance companies a barrage of certified letters to ensure they stay up to snuff. You might want to examine your disability insurance, as well, since you never know when an accident like this will prevent you from working and providing for your family. Geez… Martin is right… one of the biggest preparations we can make is fiscal preparation.

Honestly, preparing for an accident itself is pretty much the standard stuff...

Buy a car that scores well in crash testing and in the real world accident reports. Not sure if you have disclosure of the stats in the US; in Europe it is available from people like Folksam here: http://www.folksam.se/polopoly_fs/1.11226!/sakrabilar2005.pdf albeit 2005 is the latest year available, in English anyway.

Drive defensively and make sure you have as many of the 'helpers' like ABS, stability control and quality tyres that you can get.

Having been rear-ended twice, I feel your pain. And I'll bet that you'll feel more pain tomorrow than you do today. As far as the DBO who hit you goes, "Book 'em Danno!!!"

Since many of us in this forum carry our bob/ghb/whatever in our vehicles this applies to us espically. I keep a kit under my drivers seat in a small waistpack/daypack bag. Under the seat is a tight squeeze and makes me leave some larger items out but its within reach if I do get in an acccident. I took the belt for it and hooked it to the side hooks on the pack and put it around the seat frame so hopefully it will stay put. I'm preferring soft sided bags over hard storage so I can squeeze them in places and fasten them down well.
So thats one main item we should all keep in mind, keep some gear within reach and keep all gear fastened down in some way.

Hello All,

Newbie here. I have been hit 5 times, including one delightful young fellow who crashed into my house (he needed a CD from under the seat and lost control). I have begun to think there is a bullseye on my posterior

At any rate, I have found myself always watching for what the person next to me or behind me may do. Even this does not always help, though. My most recent accident happened because I was making a turn that involved multiple turn lanes. The driver in the next lane came over into mine (the whole road was his, I guess) so I had to slow down. The guy behind me then promptly smacked into me because he expected me to be out of his way by the time he got there...

My uncle, who is a retired police sargeant, has told me to never contact my insurance company about an accident when the other guy is at fault, unless the other guy's insurance plays hardball. He said that your insurance company can hold your claims against you even if they never pay out a dime. I don't know if he is correct or not, but it is now something I avoid unless the at-fault driver tries to weasel his way out...

"get checked out--whiplash is tricky stuff.."

Good advice. Even if it isn't full blown whiplash there are all sorts of musculo-skeletal and neurological issues that can take days to show up. Get checked out but just because they don't find anything doesn't mean your out of danger.

I was in a hospital when they brought in a guy with a burst blood vessel in his brain. Damn near killed him, would have without emergency surgery, and it took months for him to recover. Story was he was in a bad automobile accident but was checked over and walked out of the hospital with a clean bill of health. Had an X-ray and even an MRI that showed no problems. Evidently the blood vessel ballooned up after the MRI and burst a short time later.

Less dramatic after an accident I had I was intact but my whole body ached like I had take a beating 36 hours after the accident. A nurse friend warned me to take Tylenol to dull the pain but to avoid aspirin just in case I might have internal injuries. Such hidden injuries, typically in the head, liver or spleen, are pretty common in vehicular accidents. Seat belts and air bags save lives but they can also cause their own sorts of damage.

Get checked out but stay alert for a week or ten days for symptoms that may signal a previously unrecognized issue.

Another thing is to avoid making statements or signing anything. Silence is the only thing that can't be twisted around to hurt you. Don't assume their insurance company is going to treat you honestly or that your insurance company is on your side. IF they go out of their way to be up front that's nice. Any doubt at all consult a lawyer.

Thanks everyone.

I spent today getting my car in the shop. The say 2-3 weeks to repair and I am still waiting on the estimate.

I spent the afternoon at my regular doctor and a chiropractor. The insurance company said no problem to going to both. They both tell me it doesn't seem like anything major appears wrong and that the full extent on any injuries will be felt in the next few days.

So far so good. First, I made it through the night Susan. And by the way, you should be "Grand Poobah!" And today, there is only some stiffness and mild aches and pains and a little head ache.

The chiropractor suggested a mild course of non-manipulative treatment which I begin tomorrow. I want to see if he can prescribe a massage for me. That would probably make me feel better. I was telling one of my friends that the bright side of this is that my chiropractor is a former class mate of mine that I haven't seen in a very long time. And the way guys are, it seemed like yesterday. And we had a nice chat, he got to meet my family and I found out about his. So there is a silver lining in all this.

Hey, welcome to the fire airballrad! Note: I'm never going to ride with you in a car.

-Blast

Welcome Newguy!!!

Thanks, Blast!

My wife is only just now letting me drive her minivan again...

With the exception of her van and my new car (4 months old), I have been hit in every car (and house) I've owned. It may just be the natural result of my long commute, but I still reserve the right to be paranoid...

"My uncle, who is a retired police sargeant, has told me to never contact my insurance company about an accident when the other guy is at fault, unless the other guy's insurance plays hardball. He said that your insurance company can hold your claims against you even if they never pay out a dime. I don't know if he is correct or not, but it is now something I avoid unless the at-fault driver tries to weasel his way out... "

Your uncle is wrong. Maybe it used to be like that, but not now. Now the insurance companies have C.L.U.E. (Comprehensive Loss Underwriting Exchange). All the insurance companies report to CLUE, and all of them buy information from them.

All incidents are reported and show up on the record. If you're a victim of adverse underwriting (aka high premiums) because of a not-at-fault incident, it's up to you to explain it and get your insurance company to confirm it. You had an accident and didn't report it? They're probably going to view you as a bad-risk, scum-sucking, lying loss-waiting-to-happen. And that means high premiums.

I believe this CLUE is also tied up with your credit report. Your premiums will be higher if you have a low credit rating, and vice versa. I think it stinks, and I think it should be illegal, but no one has ever asked for my opinion.

Actually, hardly anyone ever ASKS for my opinion. They get it, but they don't ask for it...

Sue






First, everything is reported as an incident, then maybe an accident, then maybe a claim. Even if unattended by the police, I think by law you're suppose to report all vehicle property damage losses in excess of $500 to law enforcement.

Blast, what's wrong with riding the white knuckle express?

Thanks, Sue. I did not know that.

In fact, I have had only one of my accidents happen since his "advice", and in that case the at-fault driver lied to his insurance company about the cause of the collision so I had to involve my insurance anyway. I was surprised that they fought it; it is darn near impossible (in my state at least) to prove blame on the recipient of a rear-end collision. He even wanted me to pay for the pain I inflicted on him when he rear-ended me.

I felt bad for the kid at the time of the accident, he was pretty dazed, and it was his mother's car. I was also amazed at the people who immediately helped him out of his car; I wouldn't touch him as the car was not burning and he was able to communicate that he was OK.

Also (belatedly), I am glad to hear that you are OK, aloha. While my misfortunes have been many in this respect, mine have all been low-speed, no-injury collisions.

Aww, come on now...

I have not done any of the hitting in my adventures, and I will have you know that I have never had a speeding ticket that did not get thrown out of court *knocks on wood*. I just drive invisible cars, it seems...

I get enough of that when I let DW drive!

-Blast, living dangerously

Okay...maybe if I'm really drunk.
Note #2: Airballrad, promise us you'll never get a motorcycle!

-Blast

Those do exist. Around here it seems to be the grey Ford Tarus, you see quite a few of them. And in the morning or evening the grey car against a grey sky driving on the grey road does tend to disappear. I remember one day signaling for a lane change and hearing a horn that came from a grey car that I couldn't see because they didn't have their lights on so it was impossible to see it in the rain.

"...they didn't have their lights on..."

Ya gotta love daytime running lights (for those who won't turn their lights on in inclement weather). Too bad they didn't start putting them on cars years and years ago...

Only problems now with DRL's is they have started using the parking/signaling lights for them. So when you only see one corner of the car you now have to look longer to try and determine if its a DRL or turn signal. They really did help until that change.

Aloha: glad you are ok and the docs say no visible damage, just remember follow all the advise and take the tylenol like you were told

kd7fqd

I'm just kidding. I only say that because I knew a guy with a small plane and he offered inter-island flights to his friends on what he called the "white knuckle airline."

Thanks again everyone.

I am glad I haven't been told to take any pain meds. I am not a meds kind of guy usually. The doctors and nurses absolutely freaked out when I refused pain meds after having knee surgery in my younger years.

But the doctors did warn me that the worst will probably be occurring between now and the weekend. Thankfully, so far, the discomfort is just an annoyance. And hopefully, it will be gone by next week. But I am happy to be getting another treatment with the chiropractor tomorrow.

I always thought it involved painful manipulation, but so far, it has been gentle and relaxing. I will still work on getting him to prescribe treatment by a hot babe.

I hope your wife wasn't standing close by when you wrote that....

I made sure she wasn't around first.

It's always really frustrating when you do everything right (even to go so far as to pull over to use your phone) and someone else's stupidity puts your life in danger.

It's a good thing you're okay, and that it happened in the middle of the day with witnesses.


Speaking from personal experience, the problem with hit-and-runs is that they often go unsolved -- even when there are fatalities. If no one was killed, chances are pretty slim that the police are going to make more than a cursory investigation.

It is very difficult to investigate a hit-and-run based on physical evidence so without witnesses it's unlikely that one will ever be solved. That's why the penalties for leaving the scene of an accident are so severe. When the chances of getting away with something are so high, a greater deterrent is needed.

Police are generally undermanned, and overworked, so cases are prioritized accordingly. Automotive accidents are not high on that list unless they are in some way newsworthy.


Drive safely and remember: Seatbelts do indeed save lives.

"I am glad I haven't been told to take any pain meds. I am not a meds kind of guy usually."

Used to be thought that, partly because all medications have side effects, toughing it out had many advantages. It may still have some but now we know there is also a down side. A lack of pain relief can greatly slow recovery, delay restoration of function and can, in some cases, can lead to much more pain much in the very long term.

It has been shown to a fair degree of certainty that early administration of effective analgesia reduces the chances of, or extent of, phantom pain after a limb is amputated. The science shows that to some extent trauma and intense pain reprograms the brain and how it perceives pain in the future.

One might assume that exposure to pain would increase the tolerance and increase the threshold for pain but the long term effect seems to be exactly the opposite. The trauma of intense pain very much increases both the physical and psychological effects long term.

While your certainly free to decline medications you may not be doing yourself any favors.

Generally speaking chiropractic treatments do not involve any significant amount of pain if done properly. While I do favor chiropractic treatments for simple back pain, where he offers quick and effective relief, I am careful to reign in the enthusiasm of my chiropractor for the rest of the ailments he claims to be able to treat.

Given free run of my health-care, and checkbook, he would treat everything from ingrown toenails to dandruff. There are no limits to what he claims to be able to effect with his combination of manipulations, dietary supplements (Sold in the office naturally) and homeopathic potions. IMO most of these are effective largely to the extent the patient is suggestible or subject to the placebo effect. We have developed an understanding.

I also make sure he curbs his tendency to get me on an open ended program. When I go in I tell him up front to do what he can in three visits. After three visits I reevaluate his progress. The longest series was six visits after a fairly serious accident. Over thirty years I have gone to several chiropractors for about a half dozen issues.

Aloha Art,

Thanks for your comments. I have always declined pain meds, even after knee surgery. I guess I have a high threshold for pain.

My chiropractor has been really good. His goal is to make sure I am fully documented for my insurance, I get treated for the causes of my discomfort regardless of who does the treatment, and for me to stop seeing him as soon as possible. I went to school with him and trust that he is doing the right thing for me.

Today, I discovered Thai massage by a very talented lady. WOW! She is good. I have never had a Thai massage before and it was the best massage I have ever had. First of all, it is fully clothed and no oils/lotions are used. She had a pair of pants and a shirt laid out for me to change into. They were cool, loose and comfortable. The shirt was like scrubs, but it was a Thai shirt and the pants are long and comfy. Thai massage is a combination of a very strong deep tissue massage and yoga, with lots of stretching.

She was able to tell me how the guy hit my car from working on me as well as tell me how I sit when I work. She was also able to tell me all the stuff that was bothering me. I told her generally when I went to see her and she filled in the blanks and was able to tell me specifically what was wrong. Then she went to work on it.

A Thai massage is not one where you can relax and fall asleep during. It is active and is almost like a massage with a mini work out built in. She did warn me before we started that I might hurt a little bit for a day or two after. She likened it to how you feel the day or two after exercising if you haven't in a while. It was good enough that I am going to try to get my wife an appointment too, if she wants to go.

She did tell me that she thought I could take pain very well as she worked me pretty hard. I had a really tight knot in my neck and she was working it with steady pressure. It hurt during, but felt good after. She kept talking to me during that time. I was just doing my deep breathing and told her that it not only helps me with pain relief, but helps to get the massage in deeper. She told me she was talking to distract me so it might not hurt as much but the breathing for a deeper massage and a deeper stretch was the correct thing to do.

Anyway, long story short, deep breathing is my normal pain med. It has worked for me all my life so far and the side effects are good ones.

I am very glad to hear that you getting over the accident. I wish you continued good luck!!!!

Thanks everyone!