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.