(Spoiler alert! Everything is fine! I’m totally fine!)
So, I started my new job last week. And they’re already sending me to job sites (like a boss!). Which means that I’m already finding new and creative ways to drive to job sites. Which means that, last Friday, I found myself in Kenmore Square. Which, if you’ve ever driven in Boston, you will know is not exactly the most fun place in the world to be driving in.
(Spoiler alert! Just reminding you that everything is fine!)
So, I’m chugging merrily along, when the car in front of me stops short. So, I stop short. So, the car behind me stops short… using my bumper as a brake.
Yeah, I totally got rear-ended.
(Not so much like a boss.)
The best part? I had it ingrained in me from the time I started driving that, if you have to brake on the quick side, you should look in the rearview mirror. Just in case the person behind you isn’t stopping. And there’s maybe something you can do about it. Which, in this case, basically just meant I got to watch (in super slo-mo, the brain is an odd little organ) the whole accident unfold.
The guy two cars behind me laid on the horn. Because that’s helpful. I put on my hazards and blinker, pulled over to the side of the road, and hoped like hell that the guy who hit me was planning to do the same. Because I was so stunned, I didn’t think I was capable of remembering make/model, let alone license plate number.
“Yes, officer. The person who hit me was driving a… car. It had four wheels. I think.”
Lucky for me, there are honest people in this world. We did the exchange of info rigamarole. Took pictures of the damage. All that good stuff. I gave Kristian a call. Because I’ve never had to do the exchange of info rigamarole, and I wanted to make sure I was doing it all correctly. I was on the right track, although he did remind me to ask the guy for his license so I could verify that it was the same as the name on the registration.
(Spoiler alert! The guy was not trying to pull a fast one on me. It all checked out.)
Can I just say how awesome smart phones are? Not only could I call my husband for advice and moral support, I also used my iPhone camera to take pictures of the other guys’ license plate, his registration, his license, all of the damage, and the intersection where it happened, etc. It’s not like it’s all that hard to write down a license plate number (I typed it into my notes, just in case). But, this way, I knew I wasn’t going to miss anything.
After we finished up all of the rigamarole, I didn’t know what else to do… so I got back into my car and drove to the job site. The car was driving fine. I felt fine. Part of me wanted to go home and crawl into a hot bath. But a) it was only my fifth day on the job and 2) we don’t have a working bathtub. So, off to work I went. And I was only 15 minutes late.
(Like a boss!)
Kristian still needs to take my car in to get assessed, but we’re pretty sure it’s going to need a new bumper. It’s all compressed in the back, and warped around the bottom. Compression is not so bueno, because it needs to be able to compress again if someone else decides to rear-end me. And the warping is less dangerous, but far more annoying. It makes awful whistling noises if you hit a cross-breeze at just the wrong speed. Lucky for me, the new gig mostly has me taking the subway to work. We can leave it at a body shop for as long as it takes to make my baby all shiny and new.
As far as accidents go, this one wasn’t so bad. I have some residual soreness, but I mostly feel fine. My car will be as good as new after the repair. And I was 0% at fault, so I shouldn’t have to pay for it. As a general rule, I don’t really recommend car accidents. But, if you have to get into one, I would highly recommend this kind.