Around 1:30 in the afternoon, I was traveling on I-80, heading to the mall where my bookstore is located. I passed a couple of signs noting, "Be prepared to stop" and "right lane closed 3 miles". Since construction sites are very familiar to anyone who travels I-80 in Illinois, I was not caught off guard when, after passing these signs, I soon reached a spot where traffic was slowed nearly to a stop and I moved into the left lane.
As I was braking, I noticed a car coming up fast from behind. I flashed my brakes to let this person know that traffic was coming to a halt, but to no avail. Looking in my rearview mirror, I could tell that the driver wasn't slowing down. I checked the right lane to see if I could move out of the way. Seeing that it was clear, I started to pull into the other lane, but I didn't make it.
The driver who wasn't slowing down, finally reached me and crushed the cargo area of my Rav-4. I felt the impact and watched in awe as the landscape flew by my windows while I being spun into the ditch on right hand side of the road. After my car came to a halt, I tried my best to remain calm and I called 911 and then thanks to Rikki, I was able to reach Jen. Several very kind people were there to make sure that I was okay, offering me towels for the laceration on my head and keeping my talking so I could stay focused despite what was going on around me.
EMTs soon arrived and took me to the Emergency Room, where they took xrays of my neck, chest, and torso, and performed a CT scan of my head. Fortuneatly, I wasn't seriously injured (I was wearing my seatbelt and didn't hit the windshield). I'm a little sore, I've got a hell of a bruise on my left thigh from my steering wheel, and my left arm is bruised from being slammed into my door. As I mentioned the worst of my injuries was a laceration on the top of my head, which required 9 staples to close up.
Granted, I disappointed that my car is most likely totalled, but at least I was able to walk away.
It could've been a lot worse.
6 comments:
Again, I say if you wanted a few days off of work, you should have just scheduled it that way. :) I can't even express how thankful I am that you weren't hurt any worse, especially considering the condition of your poor car. At least you get to be babied this weekend and rest...you never get a weekend off during the holidays. :)
I am SO glad everything turned out alright. I don't think I have ever been so fast or efficient in dialing the phone as I was yesterday. Wishing you a speedy recovery! :)
Rikki (and the rest of The Crew).
Oh my goodness! I am so super glad that you are ok! Wow 7 staples? That is crazy. Remember cars can always be replaced, you can not.
Holy crap, Greg! I was really hoping by the the title of your post you were going to tell us some amusing stories of your head nearly exploding due to the craziness that is the holiday season at your store. I'm so glad you're okay - you guys sure have had a time with your cars lately! They can be replaced, of course, but you can not. Hugs to you and Jen, who I'm sure was rattled to no end by this turn of events!
Wait a minute - This wasn't posted as a motive for a sympathy win this week, was it? =)
Holy crap! I'm glad you're mostly OK. I'm always nervous when I see people coming up behind me too fast, and that's exactly what you fear. One thing I learned when had to deal with insurance for a wrecked car: reject the first offer. A lot insurance companies will lowball your vehicle's worth, so if you call up and argue how good a condition your SUV was in and how well maintained, etc, etc, you might get a couple grand extra.
I too am glad you are OK. That is so wierd, Marty and I were on Route 80 at 1:30 on Friday going to my xmas party so you must have been RIGHT behind us because there weren't any accidents in front of us. Again I am glad you are OK.
Julie
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