Ouch only begins to describe…
We were sitting at the stop light at South Fourth St and E Reed St in San Jose waiting to get on the highway when *wham*. Came out of nowhere… I don’t even remember squeeling tires warning us before impact (there is the possibility that there weren’t any). Guy was going fast enough that he pushed our car a good 8-10 feet down the street. The scary thing is there was only one set of skid marks, and they were from our car because Josh had his foot on the brake and the transmission in 1st. The guy in front of us got a glancing blow, which left a small scratch on his bumper. He said he heard the carsh behind him and hit the gas (the light had just changed and cars were starting to go).
We got a police report and the guy who hit us got a ticket (and a lecture from his father), but I’m not entirely sure what he was cited with.
I’ve already made a claim with my insurance company, and the Corolla has been towed to a body shop. But both the tow truck driver and the body shop guy agree with me in thinking that the insurance company will probably total the car. The back passenger door won’t open and the panel is crimped right along the door opening. The panel on the other side has a barely perceptible bend to it. The trunk door, even though it flew open, still got bent vertically in the middle. The muffler is dragging on the ground and the spare tire area is now visible when you look at the back end.
One of the things that I thought was funny (got to find humor somewhere, I guess)… when the guy hit us the little compartments in the dashboard opened and spewed out the stuff they were hiding, and even the windshield wipers jumped.
Let me just say… those VW crash commericals have it right.
I should probably mention that the husband and I are okay, very shaken up (which the scotch should help with), but okay. We’ve already have an appt with our chiropractor for the morning cause it feels like there was a bit whiplash action going on (boy, is my head going to hurt tomorrow).