Day before yesterday I'd driven to Meterie, next to New Orleans, to visit Larry while he was on rest at his hotel with the RR. We'd had a lovely day together shopping and dining out. He had to get on his train and take it to Mobile and I was driving to Gulfport MS to stay overnight with my best friend, Nancy, who had flown in from Miami. I was about five miles south of Lake Ponchatrain, driving in the far right lane with the cruise control set on 60 (the posted speed limit). I looked in my rear view mirror and watched in horror as a white van speeded directly at me from behind. The drivier, a man, was holding a cell phone to his left ear. I'm guestimating that he had to have been doing at least 70 or more. I had one of those moments when you think about more than is possible within 1 seconds time. I remember thinking, "Damn, he's going too fast." and then "Damn, he's going to hit me" and then without any time to react I braced myself for impact and remember hearing the loud bang as his van slammed into my truck. I was driving our 2009 GMC Sierra truck. After being rear-ended I pulled over and was shaking like a leaf in a hurricane. I watched as the man got out of his van and he was shaking his head and was obviously pissed at himself. I called 911 and they pinpointed my location by my cell phone. They said they were sending the police. I got out and the man, about 28ish speaking with an accent that I could not pin point asked me if I was okay. His front bumper was dinted in and broken in two places...there wasn't a scratch on my truck because he'd plowed into the tow bar ball...thank goodness Larry put that on our truck despite us not ever having used it. The man looked really nervous and asked me not to call the police since my vehicle wasn't damaged. I told him "you just plowed into me going way over the speed limit on the interstate!!" He said his brakes had failed but yet he wanted to get in his van and drive down the interstate. He then put his arm around me which I moved away from him at that point and asked him not to touch me. He then said he was having family problems, his wife wanted his kids and I didn't understand. I called my hubby...Larry said if there wasn't any damage not to bother and that it would probably take the police 1-2 hours to arrive anyway...well, wouldn't you know that at that moment the police arrived (less than 10 minutes of the wreck) and the guy who hit me really looked nervous). I talked to one of the officers away from the guy that had hit me and told him what had happened. He went to talk to the guy. Then he came back and said the guy said I'd been in the MIDDLE lane, darted out in front of him and slammed on my brakes. I could not believe what I was hearing and told the officer "Oh, hell no." I didn't mean to say hell but I was just so shocked that this man made up this story. The officer took my license, registration and insurance and walked away. Presently, I saw them putting cuffs on the driver and lead him to the back seat of their patrol car. The most I thought the guy would get is a ticket...the officer returned and said, "Well, now we know why he didn't want you calling us. He has several tickets and he's driving on a suspended license." I told him I hated that he got into trouble and before I could say anymore the officer said, "He was acting stupid. You hit somone, you're going to get a ticket. This guy is going to jail and his van towed." He gave me back my stuff, said they'd do a report and notify me if I wanted a copy. I had stopped shaking by then and calmed down considerably. I called Larry back to let him know what had just happened and my girlfriend in Gulfport to let her know I'd be a little late arriving at her home. Life can spin on a dime and change in the blink of an eye. We have a Chevy Prism and had I been driving that vehicle the outcome could have been a whole lot different.
Have any of you been in a car accident where you saw it about to happen knowing there is nothing you can do about it? Talk about a helpless feeling.