Hope everyone is doing well. Not sure what is going on with
@VOLSONLY but sending good vibes your way. I haven't been on much since Christmas.....been a little down.
The day after Christmas I was in a bad wreck. I was on a 2 lane highway coming back near the city, 60mph speed limit. The car in front of me that I was coming up on was going a little slower than my 65 or so. The driver tapped their brakes and then let off the brake and kept going. I saw this happen and let off the gas....I wasn't sure why they had done that but didn't see anyone ahead of them that would have caused it so I started to get back up to speed and was thinking about whether I was going to pass on the dotted yellow line or wait and see what they did. A lot of older), country folks in that area will go 10 or 20 miles under the speed limit and passing is common when safe. Unfortunately, the highway dipped diwn not far past them so couldn't tell if a car/truck might be coming. It was also dark.
All of a sudden, the driver comes to a dead stop right as I was reaching my top acceleration. I tried to react but by the time I could I slammed into them at about 60. I never saw who was in the vehicle but after I came to, turned off my engine, got helped out of the car, got looked at in an ambulance, my head cleared some from airbag impact to the face and steering wheel to the sternum and I started getting my license plate and work gear out of the car.....an officer approached me. I asked him what happened and if everyone was OK.
He told me that the lady in front of me saw traffic/emergency lights from another wreck a mile up and couldn't decide if she wanted to keep going and get caught in traffic or turn around and go back the other way. I asked how she could possibly see a wreck a mile away with dips, curves and woods everywhere...no answer on that other than "maybe saw tail lights or emergency lights bouncing off trees in the distance." This lady decided to go back the other way and stopped dead in the road right in front of me to turn around. I couldn't believe it....who the hell does that at high speed instead of using a side road or emergency flashers and the shoulder? The cop then said nobody was being ticketed but I'd be held responsible "because she was in front of me and could decide to do what she wanted and it was my responsibility to avoid her." I couldn't believe what I was hearing and my attorney also disagrees. My wife was there by then and we made a smart-ass point about what if I did that on the interstate. Would the pileup be everyone else's fault? Anyway, FL is a comparative liability state and one of a few where you can settle or win in court as long as you aren't 100% at fault.
I went to the ER and they acted like nothing was wrong from X-rays and told me to "be active so I wasn't too sore" and go see an Orthopedic doctor. Well....I got my MRI results and I shredded the muscles and soft tissue attached to my sternum, have 7 herniated discs in back and neck that are severely inflamed and I also have a fracture of my anterior column(part of spine) by one of the herniated discs in my lower back. Yay me....I've gone my whole life without a major back injury and now this happens. Definitely put a damper on the holidays. Any VN attorneys have thoughts on if that officer was as wrong as he sounded?
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