- Jan 3, 2006
- 11,883
- 63
- 91
I was stopped at light. The first car at an intersection. I was in the right most lane, the "number 1" lane?
I await patiently for the light to turn green. Light turns green. Do I give the rental a holeshot? Nope, just look both ways and move forward like normal. Problem was, before the light turned green, the street's opposing traffic was turning left in the shopping center. They have two left hand turn lanes.
According to the witness there was a long queue for people turning left. She either didn't want to wait, or she made up her mind to turn left in a lane that is only forward only.
When he told me this, I was perplexed and sort of relieved. I don't think anyone moving forward at first could have avoided it. It was a guy behind me that witnessed it.
The natural inclination is to look both ways. I was looking at the other street's traffic. The next step is to see what traffic came to a stop before the driver's light turned green. In my case, it was the two left hand turn lanes. All cars were stopped, even some that ran the yellow were long gone before my foot left the brake pedal. So yes, I checked that as well.
As I move forward, I look for people that want to make a right onto the lane I am on.
For some reason, people won't move even when they have the right of way. They only gun it, when they finally see a car move forward. It must be a predatory instinct or some other psycho babble term I looking for. That's my next priority as I accelerate from the light.
As you move forward, most attention should be diverted there, naturally.
So in other words...the lady was in a lane that wasn't supposed to turn left, yet she did. She ran a red light and accelerated through the whole turn according to the witness.
Me? I didn't see a damn thing. Scary shit. I just heard the loud noise of the crash. Didn't feel it. Her car (her husband was the passenger, her kid in the backseat) got the worst of it. I hit the rear quarter panel and made her back wheel into a taco. Her car 180'd as it came to a rest.
After that I was beside myself. First, every south county bitch was bothered by this. I couldn't even get the car out of the intersection to get out of the way. Nobody wanted to stop. I just wanted to move, everyone honked, flipped a bird, and didn't let me move. I thought it would be really funny getting into another accident just trying to get out of the way.
As I finally make it out of the busy street, the husband is yelling at the wife, pretty surreal site. He instantly compartmentalized his emotions, and asked very nicely if I was okay. I said yes, and asked the same. Called 911, I decline paramedics, I yelled over, the husband declines as well.
Police show up in about 3 minutes. A welcome site. The guy was really patient. Took the report of the lady that ran the red light. Talked to the husband passenger, talked to the witness, talked to me.
During that time, some lanes were coned off so people won't pile up behind the two wrecked cars. I could not believe how people simply ran over the cones. It also baffled me how many were on cell phones, in plain view of the cops. The guy that took my report had to stop 5 times to yell at people to get off the phones. (illegal without a hands free set in California.)
What a fucking ignorant world I live in.
-So now I have to wait 7-10 days to know if I am in the clear. I don't want to pay a deductible for this, not wanting to pay because someone put their priorities above strangers and their loved ones.
That girl was okay, but seeing her shaking and crying tore the hell out of me. It was a welcome site to see her get bored, waiting for the report taking to get over with. She started to skip and sing/talk to herself to relieve that boredom while the "adults" had to talk about grown up things.
Cliffs:
-woman ran a red light, I clipped her.
-she had a male passenger around her age, and a young 10ish girl in the backseat. Everyone is physically okay. (At least they declined paramedics)
-I am awaiting the police report so I don't have to worry about this.
-Still have to pick up my own car from the dealer, and pay assloads of money to get the alternator fixed.
I await patiently for the light to turn green. Light turns green. Do I give the rental a holeshot? Nope, just look both ways and move forward like normal. Problem was, before the light turned green, the street's opposing traffic was turning left in the shopping center. They have two left hand turn lanes.
According to the witness there was a long queue for people turning left. She either didn't want to wait, or she made up her mind to turn left in a lane that is only forward only.
When he told me this, I was perplexed and sort of relieved. I don't think anyone moving forward at first could have avoided it. It was a guy behind me that witnessed it.
The natural inclination is to look both ways. I was looking at the other street's traffic. The next step is to see what traffic came to a stop before the driver's light turned green. In my case, it was the two left hand turn lanes. All cars were stopped, even some that ran the yellow were long gone before my foot left the brake pedal. So yes, I checked that as well.
As I move forward, I look for people that want to make a right onto the lane I am on.
For some reason, people won't move even when they have the right of way. They only gun it, when they finally see a car move forward. It must be a predatory instinct or some other psycho babble term I looking for. That's my next priority as I accelerate from the light.
As you move forward, most attention should be diverted there, naturally.
So in other words...the lady was in a lane that wasn't supposed to turn left, yet she did. She ran a red light and accelerated through the whole turn according to the witness.
Me? I didn't see a damn thing. Scary shit. I just heard the loud noise of the crash. Didn't feel it. Her car (her husband was the passenger, her kid in the backseat) got the worst of it. I hit the rear quarter panel and made her back wheel into a taco. Her car 180'd as it came to a rest.
After that I was beside myself. First, every south county bitch was bothered by this. I couldn't even get the car out of the intersection to get out of the way. Nobody wanted to stop. I just wanted to move, everyone honked, flipped a bird, and didn't let me move. I thought it would be really funny getting into another accident just trying to get out of the way.
As I finally make it out of the busy street, the husband is yelling at the wife, pretty surreal site. He instantly compartmentalized his emotions, and asked very nicely if I was okay. I said yes, and asked the same. Called 911, I decline paramedics, I yelled over, the husband declines as well.
Police show up in about 3 minutes. A welcome site. The guy was really patient. Took the report of the lady that ran the red light. Talked to the husband passenger, talked to the witness, talked to me.
During that time, some lanes were coned off so people won't pile up behind the two wrecked cars. I could not believe how people simply ran over the cones. It also baffled me how many were on cell phones, in plain view of the cops. The guy that took my report had to stop 5 times to yell at people to get off the phones. (illegal without a hands free set in California.)
What a fucking ignorant world I live in.
-So now I have to wait 7-10 days to know if I am in the clear. I don't want to pay a deductible for this, not wanting to pay because someone put their priorities above strangers and their loved ones.
That girl was okay, but seeing her shaking and crying tore the hell out of me. It was a welcome site to see her get bored, waiting for the report taking to get over with. She started to skip and sing/talk to herself to relieve that boredom while the "adults" had to talk about grown up things.
Cliffs:
-woman ran a red light, I clipped her.
-she had a male passenger around her age, and a young 10ish girl in the backseat. Everyone is physically okay. (At least they declined paramedics)
-I am awaiting the police report so I don't have to worry about this.
-Still have to pick up my own car from the dealer, and pay assloads of money to get the alternator fixed.
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