We're alive.. a little sore, but alive.

Today we went to an 80's fondue party with Erica's side of the family, at her aunt's home in Layton. It was fun, we got pictures we'll have to put on Picasa someday.

Our journey home had more adventure than we thought. We were nearing the southbound I-15 / I-215 split.. The far left lane had just barely merged into ours due to construction, when suddenly all the cars went from normal speeds to a sudden stop. Everyone was stopping as fast as they could. I was braking, intensely focused on making sure I wasn't going to hit the car in front of me. I could see the car in front of me was trying desperately not to hit the car in front of him. He weaved a bit to the right, which gave me a bit of room to the left. As we decelerated as fast as I've ever decelerated before, I was beginning to feel like we were good... we weren't going to hit hi... WHAM! Yup, we got hit from behind.

I pulled into the construction area, as did the car that hit us. Erica was okay, and Emmy seemed to be okay. I got out of the car, in my 80's attire, and talked to the other driver. She was okay, and told me she'd been meaning to replace her brakes, but hadn't gotten around to it yet. Her car was pretty banged up. It was a nice sporty car, and it looked like it couldn't be too old... I guess just old enough to need its brakes replaced. It's front was crushed in a bit, and the hood was bent such that the driver could still see ahead, but only just so. Our car's bumper was smashed in, but didn't look too bad. Her car was pretty low, so our bumper took the impact.

The cops came and shut down the freeway briefly to move us out of the construction zone onto an exit. There we did the accident formalities, and went on our way. We were delayed for just under an hour, all said and done.

I was very tense the rest of the drive home, and along the way both Erica and I started to feel a little sore in the neck and back. The estimate was that it was a 25 MPH impact. Emmy seems fine... She was talking her normal happy talk just a few minutes after the accident. I think we'll see how we feel tomorrow.

We'll need to call the insurance company on Monday. Even though we're not at fault, we just work with our insurance company. I'm not looking forward to that.

I'm thankful that the accident wasn't any worse.

Comments

Cambrienelson said…
Wow-- crazy! I"m glad you are ok! I'll bet you were tense on the way home! I would be.
Erica said…
Not that we weren't already, but experiences like these make you more grateful for family, health, life, and safety.

It could have been a lot worse, but we are truly grateful.
Marilyn said…
I hope your whiplash doesn't get any worse! That can be really nasty! Glad you are alright!
Christa said…
Yikes! I still leave a lot more room between myself and the car in front of me ever since our accident almost 4 years ago-- it's scary! I'm glad that you are all safe. Sorry you have to go through the hassle of getting it taken care of!
Gramps said…
I take it that the car crashing into your rear pushed you into the car ahead of you? How bad is the damage?
Erica said…
By some miracle, we didn't hit the car in front of us. That is an absolute miracle. Our back bumper is toast--totally smashed in and dangling maybe 5 inches off the ground. Not much clearance for dips in the road. It doesn't seem like our trunk is damaged. Her sports car went under our car, which is lucky for us.

We thought that was all the damage we had until Chad left for work today and the brake light is on and something is slowly dripping from the front. Not sure what it is, but needless to say we're not going to drive it until we know the brakes are safe. Chad took the late bus to work (he's still on the bus--who knows when he'll get there). And he'll take the bus home.
Marilyn said…
When someone hits you, their insurance company usually will pick up the bill for a rental car for you to use until yours is fixed. You should call about that since you only have 1 car.

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