Smashup 2007

[cleolinda]

Well, shit. My sister just got into a car wreck--someone hit her from behind on the interstate, and she's telling me (she's still out there, on the phone with me) that it's "really, really bad." She says that she herself is okay, "kind of sore," but that "the back of the car... is not the back of car anymore."

Here's the bad part: we can't get hold of our mother because she finally found a showing of POTC3 at a decent time of day and is taking what's probably her last chance to finally see the movie. And as much as I'd hate to drag her out of that, I'd do it. No, the problem is that I think she's turned her phone off, and we can't get her at all.

ETA: Okay, I called the theater and convinced the manager to go fish our parents out--"I am so sorry to ask you to do this--but they're in Pirates, there's probably not many people in there anyway"--and I've talked to Mom, and she's calling Sister Girl now. Apparently the front driver's seat broke off and fell into the back seat? Someone at the scene has suggested that Sister Girl could sue Toyota, let's put it that way. What happened was, a dog ran in front of a car, and the car swerved to miss it. My sister stopped and managed not to hit that car. The car behind her couldn't, and hit her. And apparently the damage to her car is pretty bad. She says she's not going to let the ambulance take her (which sounds grimly defiant out of context), but she did hit her head--she wanted to talk to Mom, the insurance-benefits guru, before she decided what else to do. That is to say, she'll get checked out, but she wanted momly advice before she got sucked into ER Purgatory.

ETA 2: Okay, Sister Girl's best friend is going to take her to the UAB ER and my parents will meet them there. Apparently there's some issue of bystanders helping my sister gather her things, which... doesn't bode well for the state of her car. Sister Girl has told Mom that it's totaled.

ETA 3: My mother's just spoken to Sister Girl's best friend, who says, and I quote, "The car doesn't have a trunk now."

Comments

[conejita-diabla.livejournal.com]

Bah....I just had basically the same thing happen to me a couple of weeks ago. I don't know how insurance works down there, but here it was not really a big deal. We filed a police report, then my insurance and his talked - since it was his fault, they had to cover all the costs, so I pay nothing for the repairs, they're paying for a rental car while mine's in the shop, and my chiro and massage treatments for my neck and back are being covered by them as well. Fingers crossed that she'll get the same...

[chris-walsh.livejournal.com]

*is wide-eyed*

I hope your sister stays OK.

I'm sorry this happened.

Signed,
a crash veteran myself
(so I know that's one of the worst sounds in the world)

[nc-bookworm.livejournal.com]

Oh sweetie! Make sure she gets checked out thoroughly at a local ER.

[riverchild.livejournal.com]

Oh crap, sorry to hear this. Do you know which cinema your mother's at? Maybe you could call them and ask that they send someone in to get her?

Also, although she says she's find, make sure SisterGirl sees a doctor.

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I managed to call them and get them to pull my parents out despite my enormous dread of making phone calls. She did not sound happy.

[ladyhawke-wings.livejournal.com]

Sorry about the car, Cleo, but glad Sister girl sounds ok!

[editornia.livejournal.com]

I hope your sister doesn't have any lasting injuries from the crash... getting her to take a warm bath or shower fairly soon would be good, to ease any aches she'll have. Get her checked out by a doctor, too, just in case. It may be injured, but not hurt yet... Tuck her into bed with a few hot water bottles, and we'll all hope for the best... I'm sending (((((GOOD VIBES))))) to your sister, you, and your family. :)

Did the other driver stay at the scene? Was there a big pile-up?
Is your sister shaken/shakey? I know I would be...

Here's hoping (*crossing my fingers now*) you manage to get in touch with your mom real soon. :)

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

Sadly, my sister's been in several accidents and/or wrecks--weirdly, they're almost never her fault; she just seems to have shit luck on the road--so she knows the minor injuries drill. The driver who caused the accident, the one in front who wasn't hit, didn't stay; the one who hit Sister Girl did. (And thanks. : )

[telophase.livejournal.com]

At least she's OK, so everything else can be dealt with somehow. :)

Thirding, fourthing, and fifthing the doctor recommendation - I have a friend who got in a car accident and was fine but sore afterward, but didn't listen to her doctors when they said REST, pushed herself (she was normally very active and couldn't stand not to go running or swimming), and ended up complicating her injuries, which went from just pulled muscles to stress fractures, which put her on crutches. So get her checked out, and make sure she does what the doctors say. :)

[sfmarty.livejournal.com]

I am so sorry. Give Sister Girl our best wishes.

[angelene.livejournal.com]

1) I hope your sister is/will be okay.

2) I hope your mother gets her to the ER; both medically and insturance-wise, it's the only safe advice I feel like typing out. I don't mean to scare you, honest, but ER Purgatory is still better than Subdural Haematoma (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subdural_haematoma) Hell. Have her checked.

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

She's definitely going. A friend is coming to pick her up and drive her back down here--she was coming in from out of state--and my parents are going to meet them there.

Knowing our luck, though--the last time she had to go to the ER for a car accident, she was treated, while my mother was standing there, by the woman my father is currently with. You know, the one he left my mother for. Awkward.

[cassildra.livejournal.com]

Please keep us updated. I hope Sister Girl is all right.

[particle-person.livejournal.com]

Jeez, that's scary. I'm glad she seems to be okay.

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

I didn't want to say this initially until I found out whose fault it actually was, but I was actually on the phone with her when it happened--she said she wouldn't be home for another hour or so (she was coming in from out of state) and wanted me to order midnight HP tickets for her; she'd just remembered, and was afraid they'd sell out. I heard her stop mid-sentence and say, "Wow, I just about had a wreck there--" and there was some noise, like interference with the phone and her voice was distorted, and then it went dead. I think what happened was that "I almost had a wreck" was her *not* hitting the guy in front of her, and then the phone was knocked out of her hand when the other guy did hit her.

[everstar3.livejournal.com]

Oh, wow. That sounds... not good. But it's better for the car to be totaled than Sister Girl. I hope she's okay.

[dtwirler.livejournal.com]

Damn. I had an accident like this. Got rear-ended by a drunk on I77. Spun out and everything. Hope your sister stays OK.

[meinnim.livejournal.com]

Oh, man. I hope your sis checks out okay.

[malsperanza.livejournal.com]

Sheesh, hope your sister's ok.

I think small cars are designed these days to take the full impact and accordion. Front and back get smashed but the cage of the cab area is more rigid and (hopefully) stays intact. So the fact that the front seat ended up in the back seat *may* have been designed to help absorb impact.

I was rear-ended at high speed once by a drunk on the Jersey Turnpike. I was in a crappy little subcompact Ford. Car spun at an angle and whapped into the concrete wall of an overpass. So front and back were totally destroyed, but three of us inside got off light. (Of course without seatbelts we wouldn't have had faces left.)

[karadin.livejournal.com]

I was going to say make sure she gets checked out so that any problems later are covered by insurance, and whatever the circumstances, if you are hit from behind, that driver is at fault, but don't mention that she was on the phone at the time either ... glad she's okay.

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

Yeah... she's actually a really good driver. Good enough to not hit a guy who slammed on his brakes, even while she herself was on the phone; it's just that the guy behind her wasn't able to do the same.

[elisa0984.livejournal.com]

Best wishes for Sister Girl.

[padawansguide.livejournal.com]

Oh my gosh, how scary! I'm glad she's ok though. Considering the state of her car. :-(

[spectralbovine.livejournal.com]

Jesus God, that sounds awful. I'm glad your sister's okay!

That's the same way I got rear-ended, three months after I got my license. The car in front of me slowed to turn into a Denny's or something about a foot away from the entrance, so I braked to avoid hitting him, and then I heard the sound of a screeching brakes behind me as a Camaro had its hood mangled by the giant Dodge Ram I was in.

I'm still trying to imagine the carnage you're describing in such a way that your sister is still fine. Did the back of the car just COLLAPSE or something?? I suppose that is in some way a good thing? It absorbs the energy, protecting you but not the car?

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

I honestly have no idea, although she said something about spinning--but I would think that she didn't start spinning until after she was hit, because she was fine when she initially hit the brakes.

[exiledprincess.livejournal.com]

Oh wow, I hope she's ok. Sister Girl must have like, the worst driving luck evar.

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

It's weird--she has the worst driving luck, but the best survival luck, because she gets into all these bizarro accidents but then walks away with just bruises and maybe a conk on the head every time. I just talked to her again, and she said that if she hadn't completely stopped the car (so as to not hit the guy in front), the car behind her would have pushed her into traffic, and she'd probably be dead now.

[ambiguousreason.livejournal.com]

oh no, that's terrible! i'm glad your sister's okay, though. and hopefully insurance will cover the car.

[pygmymetal.livejournal.com]

*hugs* to you and your family. Kudos for overcoming the phone thing. I know how big that is.

[erinya.livejournal.com]

I was in a similar rear-end accident about a month ago...I was driving a Nissan Sentra, and my trunk was indeed gone. Those little cars are designed to crumple, which is good because it absorbs much of the shock of the impact...myself and the two other people in my car (one of whom was in the backseat!) walked away with scrapes, bruises, and one minor case of whiplash.

With that said, I hope Sister Girl is okay and insurance covers everything (probably will, since there's no way this could be her fault.) Still, traumatic stuff...

[smileypv.livejournal.com]

I hope everything is OK! Some old lady totaled my 1994 Saturn SL2 not too long after I paid it off; I was so mad! Thankfully, neither of us were hurt too badly, mostly bumps and bruises, but the car was very sad-looking all smashed up. I guess I can't complain too much because it led to buying another Saturn and then my 4Runner, but still--I had just paid the damn thing off!

[lyn-thorne.livejournal.com]

Oh, man. I am so glad that Sister Girl is ok, that sounds scary as hell. I am very glad that she is going to the ER, be sure that she gets lots of rest and doesn't injure herself further, becuase even though she's a little sore today, it'll probably be a bit worse tomorrow. *Sending good thoughts her way*