Saturday, November 22, 2014

Hit and run

So! I was sitting at a four-way intersection at a stop sign this morning, waiting my turn in traffic, MINDING MY OWN DAMN BUSINESS, groceries in the back of the car, when a dude in a pickup truck came flying up the intersecting road.  He had to be going sixty, easy.  He flipped on his turn signal and started to turn onto the road where I was waiting, his tires screaming.  "He's going way too fast to make this corner," I thought.  "I hope I don't get hurt too bad."



He plowed into my front end.  It's actually probably a good thing he did, because if he hadn't, he might've taken out the old man who was in the church parking lot next to the road.

He rolled down his window.  I rolled down my window.

"I'm so so sorry," he said.  "Are you all right?"

"I think I'm okay," I said.  "Let me see if I can get the car off the road.  Let's pull into this parking lot here and exhange insurance information.  We're going to need a police report, too."

"I'm so sorry!  I'm really sorry," he said.  "I'm just going to turn around, and follow you into the parking lot."

and that's the last I saw of the dude in the pickup truck.  I limped the car into the parking lot.

"I saw the whole thing!," said the old man.  "I've got a description of the truck!"

Other people started coming out of the church.  "Are you all right?  Can we help?"

"I don't have my cell," I said, because OF COURSE.  "Could someone please call the police?  There's going to need to be a report.  And I might need a tow truck."

The old dude waited by the road, so he could "flag down the police."  I don't think they would've missed the pile of debris in the road, but it was a nice thought.   I took a closer look at the damage, pulling some of the shattered parts away from the wheel and checking underneath the car to make sure nothing was leaking out.

About half an hour later, a policeman came.  "Are you all right?," he asked.

"I'm okay," I said. 

"I saw the whole thing!," said the old man.

"Sorry it took so long to get here," the policeman said.  "After the guy hit you, he hit a whoooole bunch of other stuff.  Mailboxes, you name it. He was pretty easy to find.  We've got him down at the station right now.  Thankfully, nobody was hurt."

Holy SHIT, I thought.





 My poor car.  I'm sorry, little Hyundai.  If I had had any idea that we were about to be part of a crime spree this morning, I would've just stayed home.








13 comments:

the queen said...

HAHAHAHA! Justice is served!

Domestic Kate said...

I'm glad he was caught and that you're okay, but DAMN. Close call.

rockygrace said...

yeah, queen, when it took so long for the cops to get there, I was worried that they were never gonna catch him, but it turns out they were just following his trail of damage back to the originating event. Me and the old dude witness exchanged a high-five in the parking lot when we heard THAT.

and Kate, yep, close call. and I was going to take a different route home this morning, but for some reason I took that one. Rats.

~~Silk said...

(I wonder if there was anything before you.)

rockygrace said...

Good point, ~~Silk.

I put this up on facebook, and someone wondered if the dude was drunk-driving. I did ask the cop that (after I learned that I was only one stop on the driver's trail of woe), and he just said the guy was still being processed at the station. It was awfully early in the day to be drunk, but maybe he was still going from the night before.

First rule of drunk driving: When you hit the first thing, STOP.

Zella said...

Oh wow ! I'm glad you're okay, very scary :-o

fmcgmccllc said...

Holy crap, glad they caught him. I was rear ended once and the guy took off and I still feel violated.

Becs said...

Glad you're okay. Sorry your car was wounded. :(

rockygrace said...

Thanks, guys. Now I just have to go through the whole the-car-is-in-the-shop baloney, and all will be well again.

I just feel bad for the car.

James P. said...

I'm betting that the offender couldn't afford to be seen by the policeman who arrived at the scene....meaning that he was probably driving after his license was revoked for prior stunts, etc. So sorry that you had to be part of that.

rockygrace said...

Ginny, I'll bet you're right - anybody who would take off after a hit-and-run is prolly trying to avoid the cops. This dude rolled the dice and lost - hahahahahaaaaaa. Eat my shorts, hit-and-run dude.

I'm fine - had a friend buy me lunch today so she could get the "whole story" (I'm sure she was just being nice), and now it's just a matter of processing the claim. Could have been a whole lot worse.

Connie - Tails from the Foster Kittens said...

i'm glad it wasn't worse.. and I'm sure your car was happy to be able to protect you from such a thing.. it did it's job now it is going to the 'spa' to get a rehab and be all the prouder for it ;)

rockygrace said...

Tails, as fast as that dude was going when he plowed into me, the Hyundai held up really well. Good car!