Ok fellas, since I’m going to let the insurance handle this and there is no risk from a legal standpoint on my end, full story (extended version) below.
Like I mentioned, I was headed to my dad’s on new years eve an hour and a half before midnight and I knew I wanted to be off the road before things got crazy out. On an 8 lane interstate (4 lanes each direction), I’m in the middle left lane doing 60 in a 55 keeping up with light traffic. Even though the speed limit is 55, average speeds on this particular section is 70+ but since I just passed a work zone and it was raining out, 60 was as fast as I was comfortable with.
I see the guy closing in on me quickly in my rear view and as soon as I saw him, I had a weird feeling in the pit of my stomach. It was as if I knew what was going to happen. There were cars on both sides of me so I couldn’t change lanes. I had exactly 2 seconds from the time I saw him until the time of impact and the only thing I could think of was floor it but before my brain could send the signal to my foot, the collision happened. Dude hit me at what I estimate 80+ mph but he told the cop he didn’t remember his speed. I say 80+ because after he hit me, he lost control and hit the median wall TWICE. Even afterwards, he was able to limp his GMC over to the right shoulder behind me after I had already pulled over.
I call 911 and give our location but never got out of my vehicle. I was legally carrying at the time and I didn’t want there to be any “misunderstandings” so I wanted to wait until the paramedics arrive before I got out. Dude came to my window and asked if I were ok and I told him rescue was on the way. He looked like he was on his phone as well and walked back to his truck. The medics show up, I step out and they asked if I were ok. I told them that I had a headache but I felt ok otherwise and mentioned that they might wanted to check on the other guy since I’m sure his injuries were worse than mine. Luckily for him, he was ok and as soon as the police show up, the paramedics left the scene.
Cop comes to me and gets my info, asked me what happened and if I’m sure I don’t need medical treatment. Again, it is raining out so he tells me to sit tight in my vehicle while he gets the other guys story/information. By this time, my dad gets on scene (I called him and told him what happened) and hangs out with me while waiting for everything to get sorted out. Here is where my dad and I start to figure out that the guy didn’t have insurance. For one, the cop and the other dude spent an awful lot of time talking at the cop car – more than he talked to me. Secondly, the cop comes back to me after what seemed like hours (maybe only 30 minutes) and hands me back my info – license, registration and proof of insurance. I asked if I could get a copy of his info for my insurance and I was told that the guy is still looking for it in his truck. It took me 15 seconds to hand my stuff over but this guy is still looking for his after a half hour. Lastly, the cop tells me that he suspects that the guy was texting on his phone and that caused the accident but he can’t prove it. I asked how and he told me that he has worked these accident scenes enough to where people will give vague and conflicting answers to his questions before the collision and that is normally an indicator that they were distracted. He then gives me the report info and tells me that my dad and I can head home now. Dude and the cop stayed on scene.
The next day, my wrist is aching like crazy but I just thought I slept on it wrong. So after church, my dad suggests we make a trip to urgent care to get it looked at. It’s new years day and all urgent care facilities are closed so off to the Emergency Room we go. There I find out that I have a sprained left wrist (was holding the steering wheel with my left hand when I got hit) strained neck and a mild concussion. After some meds and a few days' rest, I'm good as new.....well, not quite. Wrist still hurts but I can manage.
A few days later, I get a copy of the official police report and just as we suspected, the cop cited him for Failure to Provide Proof of Insurance. There were other things on there of course but the meat and potatoes of it says that the accident was 100% his fault and it was totally preventable.
Thinking back on it, all I can say is that I’m lucky that he hit me straight on. If he had been 30 degrees left or right, he would have sent me into a spin on the wet asphalt and I could have flipped. I talked to the body shop today and the repairs on my truck are ahead of schedule and I should have it back in a few weeks. I will post up pictures to let everyone know how it looks when I get it back.