My first car accident

[Anakah]

Well ladies and gentlemen, it has finally happened. My first car accident. I was waiting at a RED light on a 35mph road. I had just gotten off of work and was heading over to pick up my boyfriend at his casino. Well, I was sitting there for awhile, nothing unusual and then SCREECH! SLAM!

That's right some asshole crashed into me from behind. I was dazed and confused. I didn't know what to do. I sat there for a moment unsure of what to do next and THEN the asshole takes off!!! I saw the front of his car it, was totalled. The hood of his car was curled up to his windshield. I saw his goddamn license plate and face but can not remember either! I felt so foolish when I got asked what the car looked like but couldn't remember.

I had two witnesses that were walking down the street. I heard honking and thought other cars were getting angry that I was sitting at an intersection (my truck got pushed-- of course though impact) and I was scared to get hit again so I pulled into the nearest casino and sat there with my hazard lights on, freakng out. I cried a bit but was not hurt, thank god. My neck still hurts though.

The witnesses stayed with me for TWO hours until the cops finally showed up. I was there with the casino security who called them for me and were so incredibly nice. They took pics of my car and of me and took good care of me. Nobody offered medical attention though but I guess since I wasn't bleeding or anything it was okay.

My truck didn't take as much damage as the other car did. It's a "you should see the other guy" type of thing. A piece of his grill was embedded in the back of my truck. It was numbers in it. I'm still angry and upset and sore. I didn't know what to do. I keep running the senario in my head and am not sure if I did everything right. Mace a police report and everything. I smashed my thumb in my truck door as I got out. It is purple and hurts like a bitch.

There was a fluid trail from the guys car and I never once saw police try and follow it nor look for a fucked up car. I'm still so shocked that it even happened. THe other guy could not have been okay... they say that his car went UNDER mine. But my car didn't have too bad of damage considering.

Sorry I needed to do this... I can't sleep and I have all these thoughts of what I could have done better in my head.

[TelephoneAngel]

That is bound to shock you, and you keep thinking about it for abitThe whiplash should wear off after a couple of days.I remember when I had my first caraccident after I had been driving only a short while, I felt shocked as well.

[Mikkel]

You never forget your first time .

Don't worry about what you could have done, I can't see anything you could have done different. It wasn't your fault at all. You were stopped, the light were red. You couldn't drive anywhere.
If your neck hurts more than a couple of days, be sure to see a doctor. My daughter got whiplash by being rear ended and she is still in pain, three years later.

[roothorick]

My friend used to own a 97 Chevrolet Lumina LS, in maroon. My current vehicle is a 98 Chevrolet Lumina, also in maroon. We would find another Lumina in the parking lot, preferably a maroon one, and park next to it to screw with people. But not anymore. He lost that Lumina to a noob driver in a brand-new Lexus.

It was a shitty day for driving. Winter. It had gotten just warm enough for the snow to melt, then it refroze and snowed again. End result? Snow on top of ice, everywhere. My friend was sitting at a red light, the oncoming traffic had a green arrow. Lexus guy guns a left turn and SLIDES head-on into his car. Both cars were totalled.

That friend has terrible car luck. Prior to the Lumina he owned a Chevy pickup that was literally falling apart -- it had a habit of leaving pieces of itself on the highway. Now he has a Concorde that someone dropped a V8 into... it's about half the weight a V8 car should be, so it's really interesting to drive -- but it has blown its head gaskets TWICE.

[Talon]

My first accident was a very inconvenient combination of an ice patch, and an emergency vehicle that turned right when I thought they were turning left. I slid on the ice, and rear-ended a van that had yielded to the ambulance.

I know exactly what you mean about the "dazed and confused" part. I don't even remember how long I sat there, dumbfounded, until other cars started honking. So don't second-guess yourself over what-ifs.

First thing I did when I got home was some neck and knee-rotation exercises. I had bumped my knee against the steering column. Not sure about whiplash, but I didn't want to take any chances. Even then I didn't stop shaking until 2 hours later.

Both our cars' bumpers needed replacement, plus the other lady's car lost a tail light. I paid for her damages, left the insurance companies out of it.

The second accident, this time I was the one who got rear-ended. There was a traffic jam on the highway. I slowed down well in advance like I always do, but the guy behind me didn't. This time I was more annoyed than anything. At least the guy didn't try to run.

First accident's hard, 2nd time gets easier I suppose.

[Andara Bledin]

First things first: See a doctor!

It doesn't matter if you're even hurt or not, but you absolutely must get yourself checked out. There is the possibility of damage that won't even make itself noticed for years down the road, and if you don't get yourself checked out now, you will never get any recovery for it later.

Make sure all of the reports are filed properly and in a timely fashion with everybody you can manage.

And, a bit of advice. Don't just keep an eye on traffic in front of you; watch out for idiots behind, too. I've had more than one instance where I've seen someone who had no business with a license coming far enough in advance to avoid getting involved in their next accident.

I once had someone blow by me on a one-lane interchange doing nearly 3 times the posted speed limit, and if I hadn't seen him and yanked the car to the side, he'd have hit me, and possibly sent one or both of us off the side of the raised interchange.

^-.-^

[bhskittykatt]

Accidents are never fun. Sorry to hear about it.

I second the advice to see a doctor. You may be okay on the outside, but if you're in pain, there could be damage on the inside.

It was kind of those witnesses to stop and stay with you. Around here, most people would probably drive off and not want to deal with it. Nice to hear that there are still good people out there!

[Mytical]

First things first: See a doctor!

I agree. Whiplash and other problems might take awhile to show symptoms.

[Whiskey]

they say that his car went UNDER mine. But my car didn't have too bad of damage considering.

Who is they and why havent they given a description of the car to the police? You did all you could in the situation.

[Andara Bledin]

I agree. Whiplash and other problems might take awhile to show symptoms.

In my former father-in-law's case, it was six years before some of the spinal injuries made themselves known.

^-.-^

[greek_jester]

Oh sweetie, I'm sorry I hope they catch the bugger.

Seriously, you need to go see a doctor. Here's the NHS page describing whiplash - make sure you check out the symptoms & treatment tabs if you don't think you can manage the doctor any time soon:

http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/Whiplas...roduction.aspx

Any problem with muscles/tendons around your spinal column needs to be nipped in the bud quickly, as they can badly affect other parts of your body.

[teh_blumchenkinder]

I'll toss in my vote for "report and see doctor."
My dad, who wasn't very overweight at the time either, fell on his butt (basically) when he sat on a busted chair at his office. (No one told him, and no one wrote a note or anything on it-- and he was the only one who didn't know, go figure.)
It was maybe a two foot drop.
It took two years for his back to get bad enough that he had to go to the doctor's. Fortunately, workman's comp has taken care of most, if not all of it-- therapy for a year plus, medications that made his mood, weight, sleep patterns, and other things go crazy; four or five specialist doctors... eventually he had to have surgery, and while it fixed his back so that he could actually sleep and walk normally, his feet still feel like they're on fire/being eaten by something.
From falling out of a chair.
Car accidents screw up a lot of stuff, and the human neck is rather delicate. Please, get checked. There's so much that can go wrong with just your spine. Then there's all those muscles in your back, and if any one of those get messed up, then your days (and possibly nights) are ruined-- your back isn't something you can just 'take weight off of," like a foot. Then there's (potential) brain damage, like a slow bleed, or if you got a concussion-- concussions add up, ask any American-football player. After 4 major ones, they aren't allowed to play ever again, iirc. I am so not a doctor it's not even funny, so if I know this much and how scary car accidents can be for your back (et al), then any doctor will know a lot more! If problems crop up in the future, then it's on record as "potentially from a car accident," and money can get sorted out from there. I really hope nothing's wrong-- but find some stretches to do for your entire body, and just go through them for a while-- like a month or two-- just to make sure nothing is kinked up.

[Anakah]

I'm going to the doc tomorrow Trust me, I don't need any long term problems, I have enough. A nice update though: The adjuster guy came out and looked things over and helped me identify the car that smashed me and now with the help of the casino's I was around hopefully they will release the tape---they can see pretty far. So I hope his ass is on it!

And with the piece of grill I managed to snag from the driver's car (or rather it clug onto mine for dear life) The adjuster guy told me its either a dodge neon or stratus. I think its a stratus cuz I was looking online and grills and it's a diamond grill and looks just like the front of a stratus. No later than a 2004. YAY. Hopefuly that will help.


Now I am extra careful when I drive--I look at ALL directions. I am much more careful than I used to be. Gotta watch out for the idiots.

[Andara Bledin]

Glad to hear that you're getting yourself checked out and glad that the adjuster is on it to help find the creep.

Please keep us updated if they get anything, and good luck with it!

^-.-^

[Chromatix]

Yes, this is what defensive driving is all about - *not* assuming that other people are good or even reasonable drivers.