Blogging is very difficult when one is:
A) very busy attempting to get every scrap from their old house to their new house,
B) recovering from their first car accident and;
C) sick...ugg...
So, I guess I'll start from the beginning and say that I am sorry I haven't written more. The start-up of this post was an attempt at least to communicate with those that I do not get to speak to on a daily/weekly basis.
As Dave and I finished up moving from our old house to this one, we found that we didn't have much time for anything. After the snow went away, and Dave got over his cold he was able to get back into his running again. Dave is set to run his first half marathon here in the spring! He's excited about it and I'm excited to support him at the start and finish line. Seriously though, last Saturday he ran 10 miles with a friend and he said he could have gone longer. The half marathon is 13.5 miles and it sure seems like he is prepared.
On February 15th I was involved in a rear-end car accident. Traffic came to a stop as did I, and the man behind me didn't. I looked in my rear-view mirror to see his truck speeding towards me, knowing that he was going to hit me. He hit me pretty hard and at the time, I was thinking, "Oh no the car is not drivable!" (It took place on I-5, and I didn't get out to look because I was having neck and upper back pain). When the firemen said that all I had was a couple of dents out of my bumper, I didn't believe them! The other vehicle involved got it worse and with the front-end damage, I don't think he was able to drive it away...I had to leave the scene because the police didn't want me sitting on the side of I-5. So Dave met me off of the next exit and we took care of business with the insurance people and Dave drove the car more to make sure it was really drivable.
I did get looked at and the doctor said I had a T-strain...nothing serious, just sore for several days.
Going through an accident is a new experience...there is definitely certain processes that I thought I was aware of that I really didn't have down. I know that my adrenaline had some part to play in it, however, I really felt unprepared to handle the entire situation on my own. I am extremely thankful that the car was drivable, that I wasn't very injured and that we were both able to make it to the right side of the road. I would have been a lost cause if I would have had to call a tow truck on my own or if the police had not shown up.
The policeman that was at the scene took care of exchanging the information for us, which was nice, and instructed me on what to do...I think he could tell I was out of sorts.
The fun started after the accident. The man that hit me failed to notify his insurance company. I called his insurance company and filed a claim under his, starting the process to determine liability through his, (because it was clearly his fault). What I found out was that if the gentleman that hit me never made any attempt to call his insurance company back (or apparently they said they would even attempt to send someone to his house), then they would deny the claim and I would have to claim it on my car insurance and after the claim closes my insurance company would have to go after the gentleman in suit. How messed up is that?? All because of a loophole in the law. I was getting pretty frustrated over it, and the weeks were started to tick by and here I am with this person's contact information. I'm thinking, is it morally wrong to write him a letter asking him to please call his insurance company? Then I realized, that would REALLY make him not want to do it.
Well, after the three week mark, I found out some other interesting information. After telling this story to a friend, she related that the same thing happened to her and the insurance company did deny the claim for her. She said that she wrote a letter to the Washington State Insurance Commissioner or (WSIC) explaining what happened and they were forced by the WSIC to pay the claim.
I was all set to write my letter to the WSIC and provide my proof. In fact, I was gathering it, when I got the phone call saying that everything was taken care of! He had called and given his statement and liability had been determined (that it was his fault) so they were going to pay for everything.
What a huge relief off of our shoulders! Now we can get the car fixed knowing that we don't have to pay for it.
Driving is also very different for me. It's not that I am afraid, its more that in certain situations, I now have this weird reflex like when someone from the lane to the right of you quickly pulls a lane change into your lane in front of you. That had happened to me right before my accident and I barely missed hitting that person. Then not 15 seconds later, I braked and was struck from the back. Also, when traffic slows and the person I'm with doesn't slow down fast enough for me, I freak out internally, and sometimes it comes out externally (which isn't always a good thing because it makes the driver feel bad). I've never understood nervous passengers until now. When people say that they just like being the ones who control the car...now I completely get it. Wondering now as I'm typing this if anyone else feels this way or has this syndrome? Is it a syndrome? All I know is driving is a much different experience now than it was before the accident.
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