Going on lunch Wednesday was a different experience today. It was about 12:45, I was driving down the main stretch in Easley on HWY 123. There are a lot of cars turning in and out of the parking lots that line this highway. Two cars in front of me, a lady was making a right hand turn. A Honda directly in front of me came to a stop to allow the car in front to make the turn. I also came to a complete stop behind the Honda. It was the Dodge truck behind me that did not make a stop. In fact, he didn't try to stop until about five feet before he smashed into my car. I don't know how fast he was going, but the speed limit is 45. I glanced up in my mirror and saw only the front grill of a white dodge truck. It happened so fast, I didn't have time to really think about what was going to happen. As soon as I looked and saw him, I heard the tires squeal, then a loud metal crunch. My car was pushed into the Honda in front of me, deploying my air bags. My car rolled forward a bit more, and I steered it to the right, but I could not see anything in front of me. The engine had died, yellow smoke filled the car.
I had never been in a crash before. Air bags are an amazing thing. I have seen the slow motion video of airbags on TV, and I understand the descriptions of one going off. I had always expected that when an airbag exploded, you would be aware of that happening. You would feel it hit you. Neither one of those was true for me. This was so instant, I didn't realize it went off, until the car had stopped moving and I opened my eyes. My left hand hurt a little bit, and was red on the side of my thumb, I don't believe the airbag hit me other than in my arms. Even then, I'm guessing, because I didn't feel it at all. When I did open my eyes, the bags were already deflating.
My windows were only cracked open. The car was full of the yellow smoke from airbags. I immediately wanted my cell phone. I had just hung up with Cari a few minutes earlier, and I had placed my phone under my leg. Trying to get oriented, I saw something on the floor. It was the radio face plate. My phone had slid under my leg, to the back of seat. Every breath was full of yellow powder. Not enough to choke on, but enough to be uncomfortable. I tried to open the driver door, but it didn't move. I sat still for another moment. Hit the unlock button and tried again. Still didn't open. I thought about just staying there, but the smoke was bothering me, I pushed harder and the door came open.
When I stepped out, that is when I saw the brown Honda, only a dent on the back bumper. A pretty good dent, but looked contained to only the bumper. The shadow of a woman in the driver seat, nobody else seemed to be in the car. I shut my driver door, but it would not latch closed, the frame was bent. I looked back. The white truck had pulled off into a parking lot and I saw the driver take a few steps in my direction. He asked if I was ok, and I told him I felt ok so far. He asked about the woman in front of me, I told him I had not talked to her. I opened my phone to call 911, and then I saw an unmarked car about four cars back with his lights on. In under a minute two police cars had pulled up and an officer approached me, to see if I was injured. He went passed me to check the driver of the Honda. He had her back into a parking lot to clear the road. My car was on the sidewalk.
The entire back end of my car was crunched in. The small triangle window on the driver side was popped out of it's frame. I called Cari and told her to come get me. The officer came back to me and asked for me to get my license, insurance, and registration ready. I never pay attention to those kind papers. Now I need them. License, ok. I opened the passenger side and move the deflated air bag, open the glove box and take out all sorts of things. Found an expired insurance card in there, then the current one. Registration? What does that look like? Found one, but it was old, from Florida, I now have South Carolina plates. When the officer came back I told him I couldn't find registration. He told me not to worry about it. He said insurance and license would be fine.
My car was undrivable, the back end was smashed into the rear tires. The officer called a tow for me. I had not even looked at the front of my car yet, I was kinda just in a daze. When I walked up to the front of the car, it didn't really appear to have much damage. The nose of the car looked like it had been jarred out of place, and the plastic grill was cracked, but the hood and sides looked undamaged.
Cari finally arrived with Meredith as the car was being loaded onto the flatbed, tow truck. We were talking about what happened when I heard someone calling my name. It was George, my boss, and two other co-workers. They had driven by on the way back from lunch. George said he drove by three times before they finally decided it really was me on the side of the road. He asked if I was alright and told me to take the rest of the day off.
At this point I really didn't feel injured. My neck was a little sore, but not painful. I didn't have any other conversation with the driver of either car. The driver of the truck was on his cell phone the entire time we all were there. Waited around, talking with Cari until the officer came back with my license and insurance card. He gave me a form he had filled out that had the information of all three cars, drivers, and insurance for all three vehicles. He told me to mail that green form to my insurance within 15 days and I was free to go. We went home and Cari started calling insurance for me. I went to bed. I told my story to my insurance company and they explained my options to me. I decided I would file my claim against the truck driver's insurance.
My neck was feeling a bit more stiff now, but I still didn't feel seriously injured. Cari strongly suggested going to the hospital to be checked out. I really hate going to the doctor. I only go in extreme cases. I decided to go today.
Check back later today for Part II : the ER
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