Baby Got Back

and neck and shoulder PAIN. And, a seat belt bruise. Oh, and a headache, too!

So much for getting my insomnia back. Muscle relaxers and pain killers make you sleepy.

Thursday night Middle Daughter and I were driving on the highway. I was driving and she was my official co-pilot, in charge of the iPod. It was rush hour and there was a lot of traffic.

We had been almost at a complete stop for a second waiting for a traffic jam to clear. I had just taken my foot off the brake to start moving forward when -Womp Bop A Looma-we got rear ended. This was no little love tap, either. In my 25 years of driving, I have never been hit that hard. I was thrown forward and I remember making contact with the steering wheel before being yanked back by the seat belt.

I know I instinctively hit the brake sometime before Middle Daughter hit the dashboard. I’m very concerned about the seat belts, though. The actual accident is a bit of a blur to me but I have the impression that I activated the seat belts with the brake. I would have thought would lock on their own. Maybe they did and I’m just confused. Not sure.

Anyway, I knew my daughter and I were both hurt immediately. Within the two seconds it took to mentally acknowledge what had happened, I already had a terrible headache and my neck and shoulders were already so stiff I could hardly move. Middle Daughter was freaked out and crying that her head and neck and back hurt. She is not a whiner and if she was complaining of pain, she had to be in quite a bit.

We pulled over to the shoulder and I was surprised to see a third vehicle pulling over, too. It turns out that there was actually a fourth vehicle who actually was the cause of the chain accident, but he took off. Hit and Run. What kind of a fool, jerk, ass causes a four car accident and takes off like that? I’m thinking no insurance...drunk...stolen car...suspended license...wanted? Has to be something.

The driver of the car who hit me was a doctor and she took one look at Middle Daughter and I and immediately called an ambulance. I did hear they got a description of the hit and run vehicle, but I didn’t get it because we were in the ambulance. I’m hoping they find him.

Physics was never my best subject, but I was surprised to see that there was no where near the amount of damage to the other cars as there was to my car and nobody in the other cars was hurt at all, either. The paramedic told me the accident looked like “Newton’s Cradle” (the toy in the picture I posted) where all of the momentum of the accident went from the hit and run car, through the other vehicles seemingly unfazed and then blasted out into my car, Middle Daughter and me.

We’re both still hurting, but it does seem a little better than yesterday and the shop where my car is said they will have the necessary parts in on Monday to start repairs.

Hopefully, Middle Daughter, the car and I will all feel better by then :)