Not how I wanted to start my vacation.
May. 3rd, 2004 09:46 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rivkaFirst off: I'm not hurt. Just shaken up.
I was in a single-car accident this evening on my way to English Country Dance. I was raining lightly all day, and as I came around a hairpin exit ramp I lost control of the car. It started with a wobble, and then suddenly I was spinning around and there was nothing to do but wait for the impact. I hit the guardrail - not very hard - and came to a stop parked neatly at the curb, but facing the wrong direction. I checked to see if I was hurt. Nothing hurt, but I recognized the numbness of shock. I looked down at the dashboard and saw the orange "check engine" light, so I turned off the ignition and got out.
Then I remembered that my cell phone battery was dead, and that the phone had turned itself off in self-defense. I sat down on the guard rail, turned my phone back on, and dialed 911. The 911 operator passed me on to the Maryland State Highway Patrol, but by the time I finished explaining my location to the dispatcher a cop was already pulling up. A good thing, too, because my phone promptly went dead.
The Highway Patrol guy doesn't win any points for kindness or sympathy. He asked me if my car was drivable and if I could turn it around. I told him I didn't know how to tell whether it was drivable or not, and he said he couldn't make that decision for me. He went and called for a backup officer, and I sat on the guardrail and cried.
The cop came back over and I asked him if he could contact![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
curiousangel for me. He let me use his cell phone, but I had barely got Michael on the phone when the cop started telling me that his backup had shut down traffic on the ramp and that I needed to turn my car around and re-park it. So I only had time to tell Michael that I wasn't hurt but had been in an accident. I asked him to call our insurance agent, but then I couldn't tell him anything else because I had to move the car.
Worst three-point turn of my life. I was shaking pretty badly. But I got the car re-parked at the side of the ramp, facing in the right direction. The cop took my license and registration, and I sat on the guardrail again and shivered, and tried to prepare myself for the fact that I was going to have to drive home.
They brought back my license and registration after a few minutes, and gave me a card with the responding officer's name and badge number and the case number for the accident. I got back in my car and drove home, about which the less said, the better. I kept the emergency flashers on the whole time because I didn't really feel up to highway speeds, and because I knew that I was driving in an impaired condition. I had two more hairpin freeway ramps to negotiate, and on each one I felt as though I was going to go spinning out of control again at any moment. I mean, I was taking them very slowly, but I'd taken the other ramp slowly too. I thought that having another accident within a few minutes of the first accident would leave me completely unhinged. But I made it home without incident.
curiousangel had been watching for me, because as soon as I parked the car and started across the street he came running out to hug me. We looked at the damage together. The bumper is pretty messed up, and the left headlight and turn signal assembly is stoved in. There's a dent at the edge of the hood, but it's not too bad. The grille is kind of bent and pushed in. I know it could've been a lot worse.
While we were standing in the street looking at the car, someone came speeding up the street and honked at us to get out of the way. That's when I really lost it. I leapt out of the way, and then I just stood there in the street sobbing and sobbing. My nerves were so shaky that being honked at like that scared me absolutely to death - I couldn't even pretend to hold myself together anymore. So we stood there for a while, me crying and Michael hugging me, and then we went inside and had some tea and calledwcg and the State Farm 24-hour emergency hotline.
I'm mostly calm now. We talked and talked and talked about the accident until I calmed down.curiousangel isn't mad at me. I'm not particularly upset with myself, either. We have insurance to pay for the damage, and our premiums shouldn't go up by too much because this is the first accident for which one of us has been at fault. I didn't do anything wrong - I wasn't driving recklessly or speeding or anything. It was just bad road conditions and bad luck.
Except, good luck. I'm very lucky that no one was following me closely, or I probably would've been hit. And a collision would've done a lot more damage - to me and to the car - than just spinning around and tapping the guard rail did.
My back has really started aching. I'm sure it's just stress, because it didn't happen until about two hours after the accident. I'm going to take some anti-inflammatories and a muscle relaxant tonight, and then I'll take it easy tomorrow.
What a way to start my vacation. I debated whether I should go dancing tonight - if only I had just been a little more lazy...
I was in a single-car accident this evening on my way to English Country Dance. I was raining lightly all day, and as I came around a hairpin exit ramp I lost control of the car. It started with a wobble, and then suddenly I was spinning around and there was nothing to do but wait for the impact. I hit the guardrail - not very hard - and came to a stop parked neatly at the curb, but facing the wrong direction. I checked to see if I was hurt. Nothing hurt, but I recognized the numbness of shock. I looked down at the dashboard and saw the orange "check engine" light, so I turned off the ignition and got out.
Then I remembered that my cell phone battery was dead, and that the phone had turned itself off in self-defense. I sat down on the guard rail, turned my phone back on, and dialed 911. The 911 operator passed me on to the Maryland State Highway Patrol, but by the time I finished explaining my location to the dispatcher a cop was already pulling up. A good thing, too, because my phone promptly went dead.
The Highway Patrol guy doesn't win any points for kindness or sympathy. He asked me if my car was drivable and if I could turn it around. I told him I didn't know how to tell whether it was drivable or not, and he said he couldn't make that decision for me. He went and called for a backup officer, and I sat on the guardrail and cried.
The cop came back over and I asked him if he could contact
curiousangel for me. He let me use his cell phone, but I had barely got Michael on the phone when the cop started telling me that his backup had shut down traffic on the ramp and that I needed to turn my car around and re-park it. So I only had time to tell Michael that I wasn't hurt but had been in an accident. I asked him to call our insurance agent, but then I couldn't tell him anything else because I had to move the car.Worst three-point turn of my life. I was shaking pretty badly. But I got the car re-parked at the side of the ramp, facing in the right direction. The cop took my license and registration, and I sat on the guardrail again and shivered, and tried to prepare myself for the fact that I was going to have to drive home.
They brought back my license and registration after a few minutes, and gave me a card with the responding officer's name and badge number and the case number for the accident. I got back in my car and drove home, about which the less said, the better. I kept the emergency flashers on the whole time because I didn't really feel up to highway speeds, and because I knew that I was driving in an impaired condition. I had two more hairpin freeway ramps to negotiate, and on each one I felt as though I was going to go spinning out of control again at any moment. I mean, I was taking them very slowly, but I'd taken the other ramp slowly too. I thought that having another accident within a few minutes of the first accident would leave me completely unhinged. But I made it home without incident.
curiousangel had been watching for me, because as soon as I parked the car and started across the street he came running out to hug me. We looked at the damage together. The bumper is pretty messed up, and the left headlight and turn signal assembly is stoved in. There's a dent at the edge of the hood, but it's not too bad. The grille is kind of bent and pushed in. I know it could've been a lot worse.While we were standing in the street looking at the car, someone came speeding up the street and honked at us to get out of the way. That's when I really lost it. I leapt out of the way, and then I just stood there in the street sobbing and sobbing. My nerves were so shaky that being honked at like that scared me absolutely to death - I couldn't even pretend to hold myself together anymore. So we stood there for a while, me crying and Michael hugging me, and then we went inside and had some tea and called
wcg and the State Farm 24-hour emergency hotline.I'm mostly calm now. We talked and talked and talked about the accident until I calmed down.
curiousangel isn't mad at me. I'm not particularly upset with myself, either. We have insurance to pay for the damage, and our premiums shouldn't go up by too much because this is the first accident for which one of us has been at fault. I didn't do anything wrong - I wasn't driving recklessly or speeding or anything. It was just bad road conditions and bad luck.Except, good luck. I'm very lucky that no one was following me closely, or I probably would've been hit. And a collision would've done a lot more damage - to me and to the car - than just spinning around and tapping the guard rail did.
My back has really started aching. I'm sure it's just stress, because it didn't happen until about two hours after the accident. I'm going to take some anti-inflammatories and a muscle relaxant tonight, and then I'll take it easy tomorrow.
What a way to start my vacation. I debated whether I should go dancing tonight - if only I had just been a little more lazy...
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no subject
Date: 2004-05-03 07:36 pm (UTC)Having only recently been in a similar accident I completely know how you feel. I hope the rest of your vacation goes well. *hugs*
no subject
Date: 2004-05-03 07:38 pm (UTC)I'm a little concerned about your back: I got my foot run over by a van once (and face hit by the side mirror, but I didn't realize that until a bit later) and was able to walk to my sister's house about 10 blocks away, then, because my foot was swelling a little, put it up and ice it. Her roommate came home (my sister was out) and said, "Doesn't that hurt?" I told her no, then suddenly, a couple of hours after the event, got a wave of pain. In retrospect, I think I'd noticed some pain while walking, but not much -- maybe, maybe not. I think the endorphins of the accident washed out immediate pain, and this may be the case for you, too.
no subject
Date: 2004-05-03 08:56 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-05-03 07:44 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-05-03 07:50 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-05-03 07:51 pm (UTC)I understand the shakiness; I'm still a bit jumpy a month after the house fire we had.
no subject
Date: 2004-05-03 07:53 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-05-03 07:58 pm (UTC)*careful hug*
no subject
Date: 2004-05-03 08:06 pm (UTC)You very well might experience more muscle aches tomorrow- car accidents seem to sometimes cause delayed pain.
I can imagine how tough it must have been to have to drive home after the accident. I know that the times I've been in collisions, all I've wanted to do afterward was to huddle up and get over the shock; driving would be a nightmare. It had to have taken a lot of grit to have made it home as you did.
Good luck!
no subject
Date: 2004-05-03 09:01 pm (UTC)Thanks. It really was very hard, and I'm surprised that the cop seemed to be so oblivious to the issue. I'm honestly not sure that I should have done it - I knew that I was in shock, and I'm sure that shock impairs one's driving ability in much the same way that alcohol does. But they wanted me to get the car off the ramp right away, so that didn't leave me with a lot of options other than driving home.
(It was a ramp from one freeway onto another freeway - if it had been a normal exit ramp onto a city street, I would have pulled off the ramp and just parked for a while. Possibly until
no subject
Date: 2004-05-03 08:11 pm (UTC)Um, I know you didn't ask for advice, but "it didn't start hurting for a couple of hours" doesn't necessarily mean it's just stress -- shock is an amazing painkiller. If you have any lingering pain, I would encourage you to see your doctor and get checked out.
no subject
Date: 2004-05-03 08:48 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-05-03 08:19 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-05-03 08:24 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-05-03 08:34 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-05-03 08:55 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-05-03 08:58 pm (UTC)Be gentle with yourself for the next few days. Trauma from that kind of shaking and impact can take a while to manifest. If you aren't feeling a lot better in 24 hours, call your doctor, please.
Mikhail is presently in the iar, on his way back to Oregon, but I know he would send his love along with mine.
no subject
Date: 2004-05-03 09:03 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-05-03 09:05 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-05-03 09:11 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-05-03 09:18 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-05-03 09:18 pm (UTC)So glad you're okay, considering.
Wish I was closer to offer more tangible comfort, but knowing that you've got a sufficiency there.
Mean mean mean cop, NO DONUT.
no subject
Date: 2004-05-03 09:25 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-05-03 09:45 pm (UTC)As far as the back goes, my ribs did not start hurting until the next day after my accident -- and my doctor has told me that that happens sometimes. (Unless you have soething broken, which hurts right away.)
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Date: 2004-05-03 09:54 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-05-03 09:55 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-05-03 11:40 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-05-04 09:33 am (UTC)I think the worst part of the whole situation was the moment I realized that I had to get it together, because there was no one else there to help. I was absolutely terrified. But when there aren't alternatives, you just do what has to be done.
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Date: 2004-05-04 02:35 am (UTC)*gentle hug*
n.
no subject
Date: 2004-05-04 02:49 am (UTC)