Sorry dearie...

[PrincessFiona]

but I think you were speeding.



I was peacefully driving to Home Depot and I was driving straight on the main road. An elderly woman pulled out from a sidestreet and didn't look or even see me. I saw her and tried to veer into the next lane and out of her way, but she hit the van on the side door. Fortunately, the kids weren't hurt and were buckled in safely, but the door is totally ruined. It doesn't even open/close properly.

After I checked to make sure the kids were ok, I ran out to make sure the lady was ok. She was having chest pain and said her legs were numb. I called an ambulance and sat with her to make sure she wasn't going to have a heart attack! She started to feel better and insisted that her husband was on hospice and needed his oxygen turned back on that it was MY fault anyway and so we should just "each pay for our own". The ambulance and police arrived (the woman checked out fine) and the police asked what happened. The woman piped up, looked at me and said "sorry, dearie, but you were speeding" :auto: WHAT? I had just stopped at a red light and then turned right. The accident happened within about 30 seconds of that turn. I hadn't even accelorated to the speed limit yet.

The policeman informed her that she had pulled onto a main road and hit me and that she would be ticketed and honestly...I felt so TERRIBLE for her...and at the same time I was furious that she would just come out and accuse me of speeding and the accident being my fault....

At least no one was hurt.

kris

Just because she is a senior citizen doesn't mean she can't be responsible for an accident!

Glad to hear you are all ok and hope the car repairs aren't too big a pain.

[PrincessFiona]

What bothered me even more, Nellie is that the people on the road were so rude and impatient. We didn't move initially and part of the reason was that the woman had chest pain....either from anxiety or from hitting the steering wheel with her chest. People drove by and one lady even swore at me ... There were people honking at other cars trying to get around us...what is WRONG with people? We wanted to move over into the nearby parking lot and couldn't get out...the police and ambulance had to block the road so that these people would let us get out of their ways!

Holiday shoppers, I guess.

kris

I'm plagarizing. People suck.

[SueC]

I wouldn't feel bad for the lady--she should have been mortified that her carelessness caused her to wreck into a van with children in it!

[fluffhead]

wow - glad to hear you're all OK. That's crazy about the rude drivers-by - I thought the upper midwest was supposed to be all relaxed and friendly-like.
You guys can compete with the northeast!

Wow, thank goodness no one was hurt! Don't even feel sorry for that woman. After all, she tried to blame you for the accident! She should have been the one to apologize. I think older people deserve a lot of slack for some things, but there is no excuse for lying!

As for the other drivers, well, they suck too!! Sorry you had such a rough day.

[BonBon]

Unfortunately, a lot of people suck. There is definitely no excuse for lying. Grrr. I can't believe she tried to blame you.

Glad to hear you guys are all ok.

[Cumberland]

One thing that I think is consistently wrong with Americans, or more likely, the entire world, is inability to take responsibility. No one wants to anymore at all. That is why we are so litiginious as a society. I would like to go live in a yurt in Mongolia.

[PrincessFiona]

Well, as ticked off as I was, I think she really was just a 'scared old lady' and I'm not upset with her anymore... Maybe she really did think it was my fault? I don't know.... I think it was just awful the way the other people in traffic responded. What were they thinking?

geesh

kris

Kris,

Glad to hear that you and the kids are safe. I'll echo what others have said; don't feel too sorry for the elderly driver. One thing that is tough for older drivers though is that giving up driving is hard to do if good public transportation is unavailable in their city. But my wife and I have already made a pact that we'll keep the keys from one another if either or both of us really shouldn't be driving -- for the sake of others and ourselves.

Kris, sorry to hear about the accident, glad to hear that you and the kids are Ok.

I agree with Kevin, she was probably mortified that she would have to give up her driving.

As for the people yelling and honking....well, they can stick it. The best thing to do when there is an accident is to leave everything where it is, no matter how much traffic you are blocking (the more blocking, the quicker help will get there). DW was screwed out of insurance paying her accident when she was run into because they moved the cars. The police couldn't ticket anyone because stories conflicted and so insurance said 'too bad'.

Here's to hoping the repair bill is small.

[migirl]

Ugh, that sucks. Glad to hear everyone is OK though, and it sounds like the damage to your van was relatively minimal.

[Meenah]

Yep, people suck!!!!! I'm glad you are all OK.
Luanne

[Sheherezade]

Kris-

Glad everyone is ok. We also had a bad experience fender bender a few years ago. The jerk (see, I'm not STILL mad.... ) who ran into our car with his motorcycle was all apologies and so nice at the scene. THEN, he changed his story in the after accident insurance investigation. We actually had to have investigators come look at skid marks on the road. Unreal. It makes me always keep a camera in the car and I would NEVER move the cars until the accident report was done. It was such a hassle. Luckily our insurance company was good. Let 'em honk.