I'm lucky to be walking

[Tin]

so it all starts out....im on my way to work yesterday morning, about 830am. im sitting at the stoplight about a mile away from work....and i look into my rear view mirror and see a Pontiac Bonneville about 10ft behind me going full speed ahead . now mind you, i was driving a Ford Festiva as temporary transportation. according to the police report, the man was estimated to be travelling at 55mph upon impact. i have no idea how i walked away from this one. the Festiva is a mangled wreck. i was hit, then i slid into the truck in front of me, and he slid into the truck in front of him. i was hit so hard the rear end of my car lifted off the ground and i could see the pavement directly in front of me . right after it was over with i was disoriented and thought my car was lying on its roof. my glasses flew off of my face, bounced off the windshield...and i found them in what used to be the back seat. afterwards i took the ambulance to the local hospital because i had thought i broke my knee, an elbow, and my back was in extreme pain. after 4 hours and 30 x-rays later im walking. im at work as i type this right now. somebody was watching over me....from the looks of the car i should be in a wheelchair right now. i will post pics of it later this week when i go to collect the rest of my belongings from it at the yard. im so glad im alive and walking...it couldve been much worse. one thing i never want to do again is be boarded up and tied down in an ambulance....thats one of the most terrible experiences ive had. after the whole ordeal, im still a bit light-headed, and have messed up knees, neck, an elbow, and my back. the guy that hit me was in his late 70s or early 80s. he had to have seen me because i heard him jam on the breaks right before it happened. it probably wouldnt have been so bad had i been in a larger car, but im glad i made it through that one, especially since the car is one of the smallest around to begin with.

[Punked Out Comp]

HOLY CRAP!!!! glad to hear your okay.
What happened to the guy who hit you or the trucks you hit?

[timbit]

wow.... they don't get much closer than that. we're all real glad to hear you are ok, and hope you're feeling better quick. someone sure had your back on that one.

[Tin]

the last guy in the chain, his truck (new Dodge Ram) went undamaged. they took the guy in front of me to the hospital with splints on both arms and his neck in a brace. they put him on the board in the ambulance the same way they did me.

[mairving]

Glad to hear that you are okay. Hopefully your aches and pains will go away soon.

So if the Ford Festiva was your temporary transportation, what is your temporary temporary transportation?

[Quintz]

Glad you hear your ok man. Hope everything will come out ok.

[sdkfz]

Wowza! Glad you are OK, those crumple zones sure do work, I would always be willing to trade a life or a handicapped life for a vehicle.

[mairving]

Originally Posted by sdkfz Wowza! Glad you are OK, those crumple zones sure do work, I would always be willing to trade a life or a handicapped life for a vehicle.

Certainly better off being hit by a Bonneville since the bumpers matched up. If it would have been a SUV with a bumper higher than yours it could have been much worse.

[Cricket]

Man, you really are lucky to be alive! You were in a Ford Festiva and you didn't even get any broken bones? Amazing. Someone really must be watching over you. I imagine you'll be seeing a chiropractor for some time though.

They really ought to put an age limit on driving. A 70 or 80 year old person doesn't have the best reflexes, eyesight or judgement. And what was he doing going so fast?

Glad you're still with us.

Cricket

[Redfallon]

Glad to hear you're ok Tin, I haven't learned all I can learn from you yet Seriously though, that's amazing being a Festiva! Take it easy and hope the pain/discomfort doesn't linger and linger. . .

[rjfvillarosa]

Glad to hear you are Ok Tin........ Dios de Bendiga

[HAL9000]

Glad to hear you're OK.... I used to have a Festiva.. they're actually a much safer car that one might think.

[Cricket]

Originally Posted by HAL9000 Glad to hear you're OK.... I used to have a Festiva.. they're actually a much safer car that one might think.

Apparently so since Tin came out of that accident with minimal injuries. I'm totally amazed by that. If it had been some other subcompact he may not have been so lucky. What if it was a Pinto?

Cricket

[Tin]

Originally Posted by Cricket What if it was a Pinto? Cricket

id be charred up pretty badly .

[DragonNOA1]

Sorry to hear about the ordeal. You must be upset, it would sure ruin my day. But you made it through and you have to be happy about that. Did you say what happened to the old guy that ran into you?

Glad your alive.

[Doobie]

I had a simiar accident and felt fine after the accident but the next day I feel like crap… All my bones ached… Im sure after an accident like that you will feel worse tomorrow.

You are a very lucky person.

[Tin]

im not sure what happened to the old man. i was pretty mixed up, confused, disarrayed if you will. i opened up my car door, stepped out, and stood there looking at my car...then myself in disbelief. i lent the old man my cell phone so he could have his family come to the scene of the accident. after that, i was scopped up by the meat wagon and taken to the hospital. im unsure as to what happened to the old man thereafter.

[kram 2.0]

Glad you're out with minimal injuries Tin - you're one lucky man.

kram

[raftero]

hey cricket not all us old men have slow reaction time but i think that all of us over 70 should be required to pass a test before drivers license renewal, here in texas you can renew over the internet, every (i think ) 8 years you have to go in to the hiway department for renewal but there is no age stipulations. of course those younguns who are talking on a cell phone, drinking a coke, or eating a sandwitch,or playing with a girl dont have very good reactions either.
and Tim i sure hope everything heals ok, that was a close call.

[Panama Red]

So now what, you changin' yer name from Tin Canary to Tin Can? That would be appropriate since you probably knocked the "ary" out of that Festiva! Seriously Tin, I'm glad you're not injured too badly. I'll watch for ya later on aim.

[mc2phat]

Modern cars are designed to direct impact aroound the passenger compartment with "crumple zones" etc. Even the roller skates have this feature. I'm glad you're well, tin.

[roomwithamoose]

Good to hear you're alright Tin. Take the next few weeks easy, and you should probably take a few days off of work. The human body isn't meant to take that kind of abuse.

[Tin]

if you seen this car from the inside out, youd think there are no crumple zones. it really is a tin can as PR describes. the inner doors have hardly any kind of padding or insulation. the door panel looks like a sheet of vynil stretched over a steel door. another thing (excuse the lingo), i almost busted my nuts on the steering wheel. i have bloodstains on the inner parts of my jeans right below the groin area. my legs in that area appear to look like rugburns, from my pants rubbing against my leg upon impact with the steering wheel. they sure do burn today too. im still in a sort of stupor from all of this, im glad it wasnt worse.

[Pounder]

from experience (when I was 18 I was hit from behind ,they figured he was doing 75 plus) make sure you are completely OK , years later after more accidents they found out the first accident cracked my 5th vertebrae causing a big bone spur. To this day after neck fusion and such I have constant pain.

[Yuanji]

glad ur ok Tin. what is up with the world these days when a person can't go driving on the highway without being assaulted by 70 year olds doing 55? really happy ur ok. i'm sure burning and a couple of scrapes is much better then what could've happened.

[Cricket]

Originally Posted by raftero hey cricket not all us old men have slow reaction time

You're right, raftero...I was sort of generalizing. Not everyone is the same.

Originally Posted by raftero but i think that all of us over 70 should be required to pass a test before drivers license renewal, here in texas you can renew over the internet, every (i think ) 8 years you have to go in to the hiway department for renewal but there is no age stipulations.

Having people over a certain age take certain tests before they renew their license is a good idea too. That way the authorities can see if the person has good reaction times, judgement and vision for driving on today's roads.

Originally Posted by raftero of course those younguns who are talking on a cell phone, drinking a coke, or eating a sandwitch,or playing with a girl dont have very good reactions either.

I agree with you there. A distracted driver is a dangerous driver.

Cricket

[formerjudge]

glad u are okay, regarding age, it don't really have to do with age just how much person is paying attention. Been in situation were I was lucky to get out of the way of a car being driven by 17 year old girl flying 60mph, she missed me by inches and crashed in to another car. Turned out she only had her driver licenses 3 month and for a second got distracted by a guy in another car. In my experience older drivers are safer then younger drivers

[bigandy]

You are indeed very lucky Tin, and I'm glad to see that you are okay. Hopefully there wasn't much, if any, long term damage done.

As far as requiring a test of older drivers, I don't think that would happen. I believe it's been tried before, but senior groups argued that it was age discrimination because only they were forced to do this, and age groups x and y were not.

[DragonNOA1]

Originally Posted by formerjudge glad u are okay, regarding age, it don't really have to do with age just how much person is paying attention. Been in situation were I was lucky to get out of the way of a car being driven by 17 year old girl flying 60mph, she missed me by inches and crashed in to another car. Turned out she only had her driver licenses 3 month and for a second got distracted by a guy in another car. In my experience older drivers are safer then younger drivers

You are taking an extreme. Three months after a young person getting a license is like an old person driving three months before they die. Most old ppl are unable to drive in their final years and should be takin off the road. No, I am not talking about 50 year olds but I feel 70 to 80 is when they should be retested. Of course older ppl will be better drives b/c of experience but only until a point, where they then become retroactive and actually start getting worse, be it reaction time or just awareness of their surroundings.

Sorry to tread off-topic.

[Jaggannath]

Originally Posted by bigandy As far as requiring a test of older drivers, I don't think that would happen. I believe it's been tried before, but senior groups argued that it was age discrimination because only they were forced to do this, and age groups x and y were not.

So once again we find ourselves pandering to minority groups so that they don't feel oppressed, at the expense of public safety. Boohoo, it's time people stopped making sure they had their rights and started considering what the right thing to do for the community is... the world went and got itself selfish, and interest groups are only making it worse.

I'm not one to discriminate against minorities, but I'm pretty sick and tired of minorities being put ahead of the general public just because, God forbid, one of them might complain. Political correctness has a lot to answer for. [/rant]