Luckyarmpit
Senior Member
- First Name
- Mike
- Joined
- Oct 31, 2017
- Threads
- 26
- Messages
- 536
- Reaction score
- 402
- Location
- Garner, NC
- Vehicle(s)
- 2018 VW Golf R, 2003 Wrangler TJ
- Thread starter
- #1
At 6:51 AM EST this morning, I got a phone call from my girlfriend. She was on her way to work and she doesn't call me often at that time, so I was pleasantly surprised to see her on the caller ID. I picked up the phone and heard her say the words that no one ever wants to hear:
"I was in an accident, the paramedics are here, I think the car is totaled, I'll let you know where they are taking me".
I stood there, dumbfounded. My vision reduced itself to a tiny point of light. All sounds went out of the world. Someone could have broken into the house, soaked my head in lighter fluid, and set my hair ablaze and I wouldn't have noticed. The only thing I DID notice was my accelerated heart rate and my shaking hands.
I asked: "Are you OK? Are you injured?!"
She said: "Yes, I think so. Someone hit me from behind and I spun into the concrete barrier."
I said: "Where are you?"
Before I could finish, she said, "I'm on <insert highway here> but don't bother, traffic is backed up for miles, you'll never get here in time before they take me to the hospital."
We hung up. I quickly dressed the rest of the way (I was getting ready for work myself when I got the phone call), actually remembered to feed the dog (she has to have medication at a specific time of the day and she takes it with food), got in the car, and called her back. Perhaps 5-10 minutes had elapsed.
The paramedic answered the phone. He asked, "Is this Mike?" My heart dropped. I tried to swallow but my mouth and throat was dry.
I said, "Yes, this is he." I prepared myself for the worst.
He very cheerily said, "Your girlfriend is okay. She's got some soreness and bruising, but she's conscious, alert, and coherent. Nothing's broken as far as we can tell. We're about to load her into the ambulance and take her to <insert local hospital here>. I'm pretty sure the car is totaled but she seems to be okay despite the circumstances."
A huge, shuddering, sigh of relief left my body. I told him I gave zero shits about the car (I didn't say it quite like that, but you get the idea) and that I'm on the way to the hospital. As expected, I beat the ambulance to the hospital. Over the course of the next 8 hours, they poked/prodded/scanned her and determined that she had no broken bones, nothing out of place, no head injuries,etc. She's sore from being hit with such force (more on that in a minute) and has some bruising and swelling, but is thankfully in pretty good shape despite the circumstances. We got home about 30 minutes ago and she's resting.
So that's the background, now here's the purpose of this post. if you're not bored to death reading this yet, I'd like to ask you to read a little more.
A reality check for distracted drivers -
My girlfriend was on her way to work and she was at almost a complete stand-still and she was rear-ended by a driver traveling at highway speeds. She never saw it coming. Witnesses said the driver of the other vehicle never hit the brakes and hit my girlfriend at "highway speeds", approximated 60 MPH. The impact was so severe that it broke the seat-back of the drivers' seat (she was in a reclined position when the paramedics got there) as well as flung open the 40 part of the 60/40 split back seat. Since my girlfriend was at almost a complete stop, all of the impact energy had to be absorbed by the car. It flung her car into the concrete barrier to where the airbags deployed and caused the bruising on her face and head. The driver of the other car admitted 100% fault as she said she "looked down and didn't look back up in time". Amazingly the driver of the other car - we were told - had minor soreness in her legs and ankle and declined medical treatment at the scene. Assume her car was totaled also, but the police report isn't complete yet so I don't even know what kind of car she was driving.
So, my plea to everyone is to say: Whatever it is, it can wait. I could have potentially lost someone very dear and important to me, all because of someone else not paying attention on the road. Please, I'm begging everyone, your life can change IN AN INSTANT. Put down the smartphone, stop checking Facebook, quit messing with the stereo. IT CAN WAIT.
A thank you to Honda -
Some of you may remember me stating I sold my 2017 Honda Civic Si coupe to my girlfriend as I bought an '18 VW Golf R. Well, that's the car that was in the accident today. I want to wish a deeply-sincere, heart-felt, genuine, tear-filled THANK YOU to Honda for building a car that did exactly what it was supposed to do... keep the occupant safe in the event of an accident. While we haven't talked yet about what we're going to do for a car (I'll be shocked if it's not totaled), I'm sure that another Honda is at the top of her list. The proof is in the pictures, please see below.
Please feel free to link to this post, share it with friends, etc., if it helps raise awareness of distracted driving. We were all very, very lucky. I know others are not. Please remind anyone you know that drives distracted that your life can change in an instant, and show them these pictures. I'm not embarrassed to admit that when we went to the junk yard on the way home to take her personal effects out of the car, I broke down in tears when I saw the car in person. It could have been So. Much. Worse.
And if you're still reading this far - I'm assuming you are since you scrolled all the way down to see the pictures - I'd like to kindly request anyone that doesn't have anything positive to say to please refrain from posting. This was a long, emotional day for the both of us and the last thing I need is negativity. Thank you.
"I was in an accident, the paramedics are here, I think the car is totaled, I'll let you know where they are taking me".
I stood there, dumbfounded. My vision reduced itself to a tiny point of light. All sounds went out of the world. Someone could have broken into the house, soaked my head in lighter fluid, and set my hair ablaze and I wouldn't have noticed. The only thing I DID notice was my accelerated heart rate and my shaking hands.
I asked: "Are you OK? Are you injured?!"
She said: "Yes, I think so. Someone hit me from behind and I spun into the concrete barrier."
I said: "Where are you?"
Before I could finish, she said, "I'm on <insert highway here> but don't bother, traffic is backed up for miles, you'll never get here in time before they take me to the hospital."
We hung up. I quickly dressed the rest of the way (I was getting ready for work myself when I got the phone call), actually remembered to feed the dog (she has to have medication at a specific time of the day and she takes it with food), got in the car, and called her back. Perhaps 5-10 minutes had elapsed.
The paramedic answered the phone. He asked, "Is this Mike?" My heart dropped. I tried to swallow but my mouth and throat was dry.
I said, "Yes, this is he." I prepared myself for the worst.
He very cheerily said, "Your girlfriend is okay. She's got some soreness and bruising, but she's conscious, alert, and coherent. Nothing's broken as far as we can tell. We're about to load her into the ambulance and take her to <insert local hospital here>. I'm pretty sure the car is totaled but she seems to be okay despite the circumstances."
A huge, shuddering, sigh of relief left my body. I told him I gave zero shits about the car (I didn't say it quite like that, but you get the idea) and that I'm on the way to the hospital. As expected, I beat the ambulance to the hospital. Over the course of the next 8 hours, they poked/prodded/scanned her and determined that she had no broken bones, nothing out of place, no head injuries,etc. She's sore from being hit with such force (more on that in a minute) and has some bruising and swelling, but is thankfully in pretty good shape despite the circumstances. We got home about 30 minutes ago and she's resting.
So that's the background, now here's the purpose of this post. if you're not bored to death reading this yet, I'd like to ask you to read a little more.
A reality check for distracted drivers -
My girlfriend was on her way to work and she was at almost a complete stand-still and she was rear-ended by a driver traveling at highway speeds. She never saw it coming. Witnesses said the driver of the other vehicle never hit the brakes and hit my girlfriend at "highway speeds", approximated 60 MPH. The impact was so severe that it broke the seat-back of the drivers' seat (she was in a reclined position when the paramedics got there) as well as flung open the 40 part of the 60/40 split back seat. Since my girlfriend was at almost a complete stop, all of the impact energy had to be absorbed by the car. It flung her car into the concrete barrier to where the airbags deployed and caused the bruising on her face and head. The driver of the other car admitted 100% fault as she said she "looked down and didn't look back up in time". Amazingly the driver of the other car - we were told - had minor soreness in her legs and ankle and declined medical treatment at the scene. Assume her car was totaled also, but the police report isn't complete yet so I don't even know what kind of car she was driving.
So, my plea to everyone is to say: Whatever it is, it can wait. I could have potentially lost someone very dear and important to me, all because of someone else not paying attention on the road. Please, I'm begging everyone, your life can change IN AN INSTANT. Put down the smartphone, stop checking Facebook, quit messing with the stereo. IT CAN WAIT.
A thank you to Honda -
Some of you may remember me stating I sold my 2017 Honda Civic Si coupe to my girlfriend as I bought an '18 VW Golf R. Well, that's the car that was in the accident today. I want to wish a deeply-sincere, heart-felt, genuine, tear-filled THANK YOU to Honda for building a car that did exactly what it was supposed to do... keep the occupant safe in the event of an accident. While we haven't talked yet about what we're going to do for a car (I'll be shocked if it's not totaled), I'm sure that another Honda is at the top of her list. The proof is in the pictures, please see below.
Please feel free to link to this post, share it with friends, etc., if it helps raise awareness of distracted driving. We were all very, very lucky. I know others are not. Please remind anyone you know that drives distracted that your life can change in an instant, and show them these pictures. I'm not embarrassed to admit that when we went to the junk yard on the way home to take her personal effects out of the car, I broke down in tears when I saw the car in person. It could have been So. Much. Worse.
And if you're still reading this far - I'm assuming you are since you scrolled all the way down to see the pictures - I'd like to kindly request anyone that doesn't have anything positive to say to please refrain from posting. This was a long, emotional day for the both of us and the last thing I need is negativity. Thank you.
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