WEAR YOUR SEATBELTS!

I know it's been a while since I posted. But just wait...

Content Note: Images of my body, bruises from the crash, vehicle damage

May 22, at around 3:30 pm, I was driving home from work, nearly to the daycare where the girls go, when a van/truck pulled out in front of me after barely pausing at a stop sign (I had no signs, and right of way).  Speed limit on the road was 55 mph, I hit the horn and the brakes but could not avoid a collision. I hit straight on into the side of the other vehicle.

It's kind of amazing how many thoughts are able to go through your head in a fraction of a second. Mine were "I see the guy, guy is pulling out... uhhh, GUY.... *horn* GUY *brake* FUCK FUCK SHIT WE JUST PAID OFF THE DAMN CAR DON'T DIE FUCK this is gonna hurrrrrrrt"

There was a huge pop/crack and I felt myself get tossed around. I think I closed my eyes. The next thing I knew was I was smelling smoke and I just wanted to get out of the car. I didn't know if the smoky smell was bad or not but I didn't want to hang around in the car to find out. I grabbed my phone, my purse, briefly thought about my water bottle and tried the door, which opened easily. Getting around the air bags, which had all deployed was 'fun' and I got out of the car on my own, briefly noting that while I was sore, I was actually okay. I couldn't move my left thumb and thought it might be broken.

People had already stopped, one lady was on the phone with 911. I kind of staggered to the curb and sat down and cried. The other guy looked fine. I got a look at his vehicle and I had hit squarely between his front and rear axle.   First responders came pretty quickly. One guy stopped to offer to move my car out of the road but decided against it when he saw how much fluid was leaking out.

EMS checked me out and I was feeling in better spirits and was starting to joke around. I couldn't remember if I had hit my head or not, despite being able to move fine, but I knew that some people decline medical attention and then realize they actually don't feel great a few days later. I opted for medical help just to clear myself and make sure nothing was wrong. Plus... thumb was still unusable. I got stuck in a collar and rode the ambulance to the hospital.

I did remember from my Dad's accident 20 years ago that my Mom was freaking out that all the keys were with the car in the junkyard and anyone could have access to it. So I made sure to only send the car keys, not my whole keychain since I had work keys on it too.

I checked in with relevant family. Once Eric learned I was okay he wanted to see the car so he could see what the damage was like and how the safety features had kicked in. Because they obviously had. Now that he's been at GM for a while he knows what parts of the car have which purpose and was looking forward to seeing a real life scenario instead of just crash tests.

In the ambulance ride they checked me out further and pressed on various parts of my body. I think I was still running high on adrenaline because stuff that didn't hurt in the ambulance were obviously hurt and bruised only an hour later. Like my legs, lol.

We were met by the trauma team at the hospital because I had been traveling at 55 mph. I don't think I hit at 55 mph though, I was braking prior to impact. They were bemused that I was only complaining about my hands/wrists but was still considered trauma.

I got immediate xrays of my chest and pelvis and a quick rating to make sure I didn't have a spinal injury so they could remove the collar. I got a CT scan of my brain and further xrays of my legs and hands. Also blood draws

Everything came back clean. So nothing is broken, I just have some tinnitus remaining from airbag deployment that gets aggravated with loud screechy noises aka children. And bruises.

I was traveling west on General Squier (R to L). The other vehicle was crossing General Squier on Mill St, N to S (top to bottom)

Right leg

Left leg, more severe, also more painful

Swollen thumb from airbag deployment. I couldn't bend it, thought it was broken

Rash on my wrist

Swollen middle knuckle

Bump!

Boob bruise from my seat belt

Snuggles with my kid

And the Next Day (May 23)

Woooo deep purple bruise!

Smushed car

Airbag deployment

Car seats are no longer usable.

So their straps get cut and proof of that means that the insurance company will reimburse me for the price of new ones. 

View from the drivers side

Since we still have the truck, I'm not out of a vehicle, just out a gas friendly vehicle. LOL. We're reasonably certain the insurance is going to write this off and just want me to get a new one. Our thought is to wait for the fall when the 2018 vehicles come out and get a Chevy Cruze Hatch Diesel! It has a mpg rating of 52 MPG!!  Eric wants to get me Recaro racing seats so that I have a 5 point harness too, LOL.

Insurance has also determined that I am not at fault, which I figured would occur. I had full right of way. This means I have no deductible.

In a "We live in a small town" way, one of the daycare ladies knows the guy I hit. He did end up going to the hospital because he had some suspicious bruising and is on blood thinners after having a knee replacement. I get that. I'm glad he's okay too.

My work sent me flowers, which was so lovely. I am really loving the work culture there.

So in short....

WEAR YOUR SEATBELTS!