One
afternoon I was driving west on Cox Creek Parkway and was stopped by the light
at Helton Drive. Soon the light turned green, and the cars ahead of me started
to move. I let my foot off the brake, then suddenly, BAM! I was rear-ended
hard. So hard, in fact, I was driven forward enough to read-end the car in
front of me. It was a three car pileup, if you will. I was jolted about enough
to be disoriented for a few minutes. You might say I was sent for a ride on the
Disorient Express.
Before I had
totally come to myself there was a knock at my window. I rolled the window
down. Some guy was there asking me if I was okay. I said I thought I was. When
he apologized, I just assumed he was the guy who had hit me. But then he went
on to say, “I was following my handicapped friend and he lost control of his
vehicle.” I acknowledged his statement, but I was still not comprehending
everything very well. The guy left. I looked back and saw a customized van
behind me with a strange looking man sitting in the driver’s seat with his eyes
wide. The man who had checked on me went to a car behind the van. Given the
friend’s comments, I just assumed that the man driving the van did not get out
because he was handicapped in some way.
When I came
to myself, I looked at myself and said, “Why don’t you call the police?”
I responded
to myself, “Good idea!”
However,
that was easier said than done as I could not find my cell phone. After a bit
of looking I found it on the floor bed near the pedals. It had apparently been
slung down there when my car was double whammied rear and front. I grabbed it
up and dialed 911, although technically I didn’t dial, I pushed some buttons. Ah, those outmoded terms!
As I was
talking to the responder, I looked up and saw my wife, Kathy, passing me in her
vehicle. When she saw me, she made her way to the side of the road so she could
come over to check on me. I had intended to go back and check on the
handicapped driver who hit me, but by the time I finished with the phone call,
Kathy was there checking on me. When she saw I was okay, she went back to check
on the man in the van. She said he seemed scared, but was otherwise okay. Soon
afterwards a man and a woman from the car in front of me came back to talk to
Kathy and me.
By this time
I was able to get out and stand. I found out that the couple from the car I had
rear-ended in front of me were from Tennessee and had just gotten married and
were in Florence as part of their honeymoon. The couple appeared to be in their
late 30’s or early 40’s. The lady kept going on and on about all the troubles
she had seen in her life. Have you ever noticed how some people seem to enjoy
talking about the lack of joy in their lives? This was one of those people. Maybe
if she had talked about the times she had talked to others about her lack of
joy that would have cheered her up. Oh, well. As we continued to talk, I looked
back and realized that the customized van that had hit me was no longer behind
me. I looked around and saw that he had pulled off to the side of the road. For
an accident of this magnitude I knew he shouldn’t have done that, but I guessed
it would be okay.
The couple,
my wife, and I continued to talk. We found out they had State Farm insurance,
which was good since that was what I had. That would make it easier when
sorting out the repair costs. A little later I looked over and realized that
the van was now totally gone. That wascally wabbit had snuck off right under
our noses and was nowhere to be found. What should have been a simple
rear-ending had now turned into a hit-and-run.
Soon
afterwards the police arrived. I explained exactly what had happened and
described the van as best I could while Kathy described the driver. Since the
van was customized, I thought that would make it easier for the police to find,
but I was actually informed that without the tag number it would be difficult
to locate. Basically, it would take too much manpower to search out the van
given the lack of human suffering that had resulted from the accident.
Well,
anyway, the police officer completed taking our reports, the couple and I
exchanged information, and we went on our not-so-merry way. The front of my car
was not damaged too badly, but the rear end was crunched up a lot. But it
wasn’t so bad that I couldn’t drive it. I took it over to the dealership where
I had bought it so they could determine the cost of repairs.
I would
dearly love to tell you that the customized van and its driver was caught and
brought to justice. Actually, I could tell you that, but I’d be lying. The good
news, however, is that our insurance covered everything and all remained well
in the hood. Or should I say under the hood. Well, actually, more so in the
trunk. State Farm took care of the couple’s car also. But neither I nor my car
could foresee what was going to happen just two weeks after the repairs were
complete. Tune in to my next post to find out.
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