My terrible awful very bad day

I don’t know if this is going to be bitchy enough for the pit, but here goes.
I’m driving home yesterday going up I 5 like I usually do when traffic in front of me stops. I hit the brakes and stop maybe two or three car lengths back from the car in front of me, right as I am about to let my foot off the brake and roll forward, KA-FUCKING-WHAM
I’m thrown back into the seat my car is violently accelerated forward and to the left, the next thing I know I am at over a 45+ degree angle, left side up, as I have been pushed into the cement center divider, I steer to the right to get off the center divider, I feel the car come back down, and I can tell I am headed for the #2 lane when I feel my car impact another car and finally come to a stop.
Park position, key off, flashers on, I unbuckle and open the door. I get out only to find both of my lower legs hurt like hell. Both of my calf muscles feel like I have been beat with a baseball bat for hours, every time the muscle moves I am in major pain.
I hobble out and look at my car. I see the idiot that hit me get out of his car and I yell at him “NICE WORK ASSHOLE”
I don’t go back to talk to the idiot as I don’t want to be arrested for murder.
CHP shows and takes over. asks if anyone is hurt I reply yes, Parameds are called.
While waiting for medical, I get to looking at the accident scene.
There were 4 cars involved. I was #3. #4 hit me, pushed me up the center divider. The #2 car has very little damage, a small dent on the left rear, and a scratch on the left front. The #1 car has a stove in trunk where I hit him. The idiot that hit me, never hit the brakes, but tried to swerve into the next lane, hitting me in the right rear. This set up a trick pool shot where I did not ( or just barely) hit the car in front of me, and instead hit the car in front of that.
Final score
#1 possible total (older car, looks like a couple of grand of repairs)
#2 Minor damage, maybe a grand to fix.
#3 (me) total for sure
#4 (Idiot) make my car look good, gone to the windshield on the driver’s side.

Parameds come, one is asking me questions while the other takes my vitals.
Paramed #1 Any high blood pressure, or hypertension
Me Nope
Paramed #1 you sure?
Paramed #2 132 over 64
Me Seeing how I have just totaled a car, and have been drinking coke and coffee all day, I’m only at 132/64 I’m sticking with no high blood pressure. :slight_smile:
Ambulance comes and loads me up. On the way to the closest hospital, the attendant warns me that this is kind of a low rent hospital. We get there and I find he is right, I think they doing welding and muffler repair in the back.
The X-Ray machine is down the hall and gives a strip of three for a buck. The anesthesiologist sell pain killers from under his coat. Cash only.
They take me into the ER and I swear the doctor sounded just like Dr. Nick from the Simpsons.
He orders X-Rays and wanders off.
I then lay in bed fucking around on Facebook waiting for the X-Rays to come back from the Drug store down the street where they get them developed.
After almost 4 hours a second doctor comes in tells me I have no broken bones (duh, I knew that before the X-Rays) and wanders out.
They come give me a script for a muscle relaxer and Motrin.
What about for pain I ask?
Nurse tells me that I have Motrin.
Thanks, I reply, that will work about as good as baby aspirin. :rolleyes:
I can barely fucking walk and they give me Motrin?
Anyway I get home and try to get some sleep. I was right Motrin works about as good as baby aspirin.
Today I go recover some of my stuff from my car. I also have to go to my doctor to get something that will let me not be in pain.
BTW I am in the wrong part of the car business. To tow my car maybe 6 miles, and keep it overnight, the bill was $400. They only want $55 a day to keep my car there until the insurance company comes and looks at it.
Jesus Christ, I have stayed in many a motel for less than $55/night, they came with a bed, air conditioning, color TV and free parking.
Needless to say I pay the $400 and had my tow truck come get the car and put it in my lot.
This next part is for the idiot that hit me. You sir are too fucking stupid to [del]have a driver’s license.[/del] live.
Every fucking car maker in the world installs this huge piece of glass directly in front of the driver. You are obviously unfamiliar with this item, so let me introduce you to it. It is called a windshield. The windshield is there so that you may see what is happening ahead of you and you may avoid accidents and hurting people.
In the future you might want to consider looking out this large piece of glass and actually looking down the road a bit so you don’t injure people that are just trying to get home unhurt.
When you do see something happening ahead, there is a large pedal located pretty much directly in front of the steering column in the driver’s footwell. It is called the brake. If you step on it, you goat fucking moron, the car will slow to a stop. If you need it to stop sooner, push harder. As you have learned, you can’t get 20 feet from a stopped car while going 65 and expect to be able to swerve or stop in that distance. Pay attention asshole!

Here are some pictures

I’m glad that you’re able to post this. Not glad that it happened to you, just glad that you aren’t hurt too bad to post.

And yes, I certainly hope that idiot gets his license yanked. At the very least. He coulda killed someone very, very easily.

I hope you get the pain killers for some relief. My husband was in a head on collision that wasn’t his fault that he survived. According to the cops it was because he was in a Volvo. It was totaled as well. So here’s to surviving in a volvo. Hope the week goes better and insurance isn’t too much of a pain.

I believe this deserves a ((Rick)). What a bloody horrible day. Did the idiot that ran into you try to give you any trouble, or just look sheepish…?

Volvo: They’re boxy but good.

This. Ouch. So sorry to hear that you went through this, but I’m glad that at that kind of speed, you’re functional enough to be typing and pissed.

Glad you were in a Volvo. I gather the idiot walked away. Typical. Good luck with your pain. After the gall bladder fun you had earlier, this seems to be Not Your Month. Remembering my grannie’s words that bad things come in threes, if I were you I’d be careful crossing streets and such for a while.

Sorry for you crappy day Rick. Glad you’re not hurt too badly.

My wife had a similar incident in her S70.
3 cars totaled, one person seriously hurt, my wife and our baby didn’t have so much as a bruise. I really loved that car.

I am glad to hear you are okay. Miss DrumBum has a Volvo as well and while she has never an accident, I am happy to hear that it’s reputation for safety was true in your case.

The hospital probably charge $50 for that tablet of Motrin, so it must be good.:dubious:

Sorry about your terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.
Any accident you can walk (or in your case, hobble) away from, is, all in all, not so bad.
Volvos really are just that good!

Life: Every once in a while some idiot pops into yours just to show you how much damage he can do.

Glad you’re okay(ish). I don’t really understand how the accident happened… the guy behind you tried switching lanes and just misjudged the distance?

We were driving along traffic stopped. Idiot didn’t. At the last moment he tried to change lanes to avoid me. He was NOT successful. He was going 65 I was going Zero.
Or to put it another way rather than use his brakes to stop he used the back of my Volvo to scrub off speed.

It wasn’t his fault that he survived??? :confused:

:wink:

Rick, you’re obviously just not living right. First the surgery, then this.

My wife was involved in a very similar wreck about six months ago, except she was the #1 car. She was driving her new Honda Pilot that she had owned for a total of 8 days. It still had the dealer tags on it. Fortunately, there was only minor rear bumper damage.

The causer of the accident #4 tried to pull a last-second lane change when traffic stopped. The #2 car was a lead-slead Town Car and had 4-5K in damage. The #3 car was totalled. The causer claimed she had no insurance and the police ticketed her for it, but our insurance company investigated and found out she had GEICO. They were a bit of a dick about the whole thing, too.

Ouch, baby. Lost my first MR2 when a Pathfinder got too close–all I saw before impact was a fuckingskidplate in my rearview mirror! AmFam gave me dookie for my injuries. Apparently if you don’t cry and go to a doctor they don’t think you’re hurt. (I don’t work that way, FTR)

While I do have the highest respect for you, Rick, and wish you well and smooth sailing on your recovery and vehicle replacement, and so on…it was an accident. Unless the guy was some combination of intoxicated, aggressive, uninsured, texting, or intentionally out to ram someone for shits and giggles I might rethink calling him an idiot unless you yourself have managed to get through life without having a bonehead moment. Odds are, your undeserved discomfort and inconvenience notwithstanding, his day was likely made slightly worse than yours simply with the knowledge he put someone in the hospital.

Oh and whiplash: this is gonna hurt like hell for at least a week before it starts to get better. Take your muscle relaxers and your pain meds (show the vehicle pics to your doc if he’s hesitant to prescribe at your request–the panel gaps are pretty obvious indicators your Volvo is taco’d), even if that means you’re a zombie and can’t work. You need your neck and shoulders to be mobile and they won’t be if you don’t force the time into your life to heal properly. Good luck, man, and thank the million little gods you weren’t in a Ford.

Yes it was an accident. An entirely avoidable accident.
All that driver had to do was pull his head out of his ass and LOOK out the windshield and use his brake. You know that shit they taught you the very first hour of the very first day of learning to drive.
Instead he was plying candy crush, or playing with himself, or texting, or who the fuck knows.
Because he could not be bothered to look out that big piece of glass I wind up in pain, my car is totaled, and 50,000 of my close personal friends were late getting home.
Also until I get the police report I have no clue if this jack hole has any insurance, or if he has more than the state minimums which won’t even come close to paying for my car.
Looking at the overall condition of the shitbox he was driving I have my doubts.
Sorry if I don’t measure up to your expectations for forgiveness, but it has been 2 days I’m still off work, I’m still in pain and I have no car.

it’s possible the offender had a seizure, I’ve seen that a couple times*.

BUT HELL NO, HIS DRIVING DAYS ARE OVER.

Yeesh…and grumpy too. :slight_smile: Get well soon.

Sorry if I came off as dismissive and preachy–I’ve just seen too many people make their situations worse by being angry and would like to see you avoid that. Then again, we’re in the pit presumably so you can vent here and stay rational in the real world. In that case–have at it and I’ll just shut my yap…

Apparently this is the guy that hit me