So 2 weeks ago this morning I was on my way to work, luckily in the truck and not with the wife or 1 year old, stopped at a red light with 2 people in front of me, just leaning forward to put my coffee down and WHAM! I had at least 10 ft in between me and the guy in front and still hit him pretty good.
I was really dazed and kinda slid out of the truck to start calling 911 (took me several tries just to figure out how to unlock my phone). The guy that hit me gets out of his car (which is completely totaled) and starts asking me if I'm ok but his eye is obviously jacked up pretty badly. I told him to turn his car off (fluids all over the place). Once on the phone with 911 the guy from the car I got pushed into comes up and the other guys comes back and asks if his eye is still there (it was).
He was very apologetic and explained that he had just looked at his phone for a second and didn't know what happened until the airbags went off (45 mph zone where most drive at least 55). It took a while for EMS to get there and I had to keep telling the kid (looked young, was actually 27) to sit down he was in shock. He kept talking about how he was impressed that his phone was still working. The airbag had slammed it into his eye thus all the blood and even knocked it out of it's cover. Awesome phone, huh!?! All this time my neck and back, which had hurt from the instant of impact, were getting tighter and tighter.
Anyone able to due physics? I'd love to know the actual force I got hit with. Here's the details.
Me in my '08 Toyota Tacoma doublecab, offroad with gross weight of about 5,700 lbs with me and the stuff I keep in the truck.
He was in an '06 Subaru Impreza around 3,300 lbs with him in it traveling 45mph (I'm being generous).
I've got a class 4 hitch and it has to be replaced. First estimate, before they start digging in is almost $7K. Kid's got progressive and luckily was mostly honest with the cops. Admitted fault (would be hard to argue otherwise) but said he was looking off to the side of the road. His insurance is already being difficult and tried to order aftermarket parts. I said nothing but OEM and it took several calls to get that fixed.
Now for the fun part. Whiplash is no joke. 2 weeks out and I just went to my PT eval. Range of motion is next to nothing and he said the spasms are still so bad that they can't begin working on me or it'll make it worse. Just e-stim and heat for now. Son turned 1 last week and I still can't pick him up and can only hold him when he's ready for bed because when he starts wiggling I can't handle him.
If you have kids that drive, happen to be like I admit I used to be and look at your phone from time to time, or know someone that does, please just think about this. If my son had been with me (still in a rear-facing car seat) I'd be writing about the guy that killed my boy. Those seats are not designed to protect the neck in a rear collision and the reason the govt requires they be rear-facing until they are 1 is that the majority of collisions are front impact (especially with new parents).
Nothing is so important that it can't wait until you get to a stop light, can pull off the road, or get to your destination.
Drive safe guys and watch your mirrors.
James
