Saturday, June 9, 2012

Behind the Wheel, Not Today

Someone is telling me I should not be behind the wheel today. Really.

Our zoo had free admission today. I was going to go and take my sister and her kid.

I headed out to go get them. As I was backing out of their driveway, I did not see the car that was coming towards my right. I got a honked, I stopped and watch the car drive around me. I guess I was distracted by my convo with my sister.

We almost got to the zoo. I was in the left turning lane waiting for the light to turn green and watching all the traffic that the free zoo admission was causing. BOOM! I got hit from behind. I think the kid who was sitting in the back felt most of the impact. My back bumper got more scratched than damaged. I guess it adds to all the dings and scratches it has accumulated through its 10 years. The car that ran into me got majority of the damage -- mangled license plate, left headlight hanging out and black plastic pieces on the ground.

As the County Sheriff was on hand to direct all the traffic that the zoo was causing, one of them drove right over without us calling anyone. The Sheriff shoved the hanging headlight back into her car. Bad thing, I got to head into Newark to pick up the police report versus our local police department. I don't like driving to cities where I'm unsure of whether there is parking. I'm not a fan of parallel parking.

As this is the first major accident I was involved in, I didn't do what the insurance company says you need to do. I only took the other person's name and phone number and a couple of pictures (handy to have camera on phone). I guess I'm counting on the Sheriff to have taken everything (insurance and driver info) for the police report. I'll see what my insurance agency says. I can always call the driver. Poor thing was distracted by the zoo traffic and thinking about the wedding she had to go to. Plus, it was her third accident.

We decided not to go to the zoo. It most likely will be crowded as cars were backing up the traffic. I drove sis and the kid home and headed back to my house. As I was waiting at major intersection for the car in front of me to complete his left turn, a car from my left zoom pass me. It ran the red light!

After seeing that, it's safer for me to stay home today. Yep, no more driving for me today.