I am NOT a happy camper.
In my car on the way home from my in-laws' tonight, we were about to pull onto the 10 freeway (leaving in the local landmarks for my local readers). The light turned green, and Brent honked at the red Eclipse in front of us as he saw her white reverse lights come on. She ignored our warning and proceeded to -- presumably by accident -- slam on her gas pedal, thus slamming into us.
My brother-in-law Tyler was with us, and he was in the front passenger seat. I sat in the back with Em. I screamed out and threw my arm across Em.
After the impact, Brent honked and flashed my car's lights. We totally expected the woman to pull over. Instead she continued to pull onto the 10 West on-ramp and then onto the 405 South freeway with no sign that she was going to pull over. The worst part? She had no plates. No car dealership paper plates. Nothing.
Brent continued to honk and flash the lights while I grabbed the phone and called 911. Somehow it knew to connect me to Highway Patrol, and I explained to the dispatcher what had happened and that we were following the car.
Her immediate response?
"Ma'am, do NOT follow that car!" I relayed the message to Brent, who said, "Ok, tell her I'm not following the car...but I'm still going to." The operator overheard him and was not happy. Since the actual accident happened on a surface street, she transferred us to the Los Angeles Police Department. I explained to that operator what had happened and that we were still behind the car.
His first comment was, "Ma'am, PLEASE do not follow that car. If they get into an accident, they can say you were chasing them." I relayed the message to Brent, who finally agreed to get off the freeway.
The woman in the Eclipse changed lanes from the far right lane to the next lane over, and as we pulled off we were able to pull up next to her. She refused to look over at us, not surprisingly. Brent and Tyler were able to see that it was an Asian woman with black hair and bangs, probably in her early 20s. She was by herself. Brent also confirmed that there were no plates on the front of the car.
As we pulled off the freeway, the LAPD dispatcher said he'd send a car out so we could file a report. It was already past Em's bedtime, which was quite evident by her meltdown. Brent and Tyler got out to survey the damage, which was thankfully minor. Hopefully the part of the bumper that is a little loose can just be popped back into place at minimal cost. HOPEFULY. My license plate is also bent, but that's easy to remedy.
We waited a half an hour for the police before we called our insurance to find out if we even needed a police report if we decided to file a claim. They said it'd make no difference, so we went home. I called the non-emergency number to let them know we weren't waiting, but I couldn't hear the prompts over Em's wails. It was waaaay past her bedtime then. They called us shortly after we got home, and we explained why we had left.
Beyond Em's meltdown, she wasn't in any physical distress. I'm thankful we're following the AAP recommendations to keep Em rear-facing as long as her seat will allow. Brent, Tyler and I all have slightly stiff necks, but not anything that would require a hospital visit. (Hopefully that will still be the case in the a.m.) If Em had been facing forward, she might be in more discomfort than us. (More rear-facing info here. You can also check out YouTube for videos that demonstrate the difference in front- and rear-crashes.)
The thing about our collision is that it was overall quite minor. But the wench was so scared -- and stupid -- and made it a more stressful situation than it needed to be. We have no idea why she didn't have plates. Was the car stolen? Did she have no insurance? Expired tags? Whatever the case, it seems like no plates at all would attract police attention. I have faith that her karma is going to come back to her in a way that will make us happy. The Universe works in mysterious ways.
"If we are deprived of our just due, we naturally experience emotions of anger." - Smiley Blanton
22 comments: