What is it with people rear-ending me? Recently I was rear-ended for the third time in the last several years. The first time was about 15 years ago. I had a Ford Tempo and was yielding to go up the on-ramp to I-70 East when a car came up behind and slammed into me, ripping off my bumper and shoving me into the path of a semi. By the grace of God, I was able to turn into the guardrail and not get hit by the semi. My poor Tempo was totaled, though, because the driver didn’t know the difference between yielding and merging. For an explanation of the two, check out Eleanor Wallace’s blog here.
I then got a Ford ZX2. I loved that car! I don’t know how many people know this, but the Ford ZX2 is a second generation Ford Escort. For those of you who are interested in trivia, in 2001, the Escort name was dropped and the 2-door model was then referred to as the Ford ZX2 - same reliable car, just with a sportier flair. I had it for two weeks when I was rear-ended again. I was taking my son to his football game and we stopped at McDonalds to get a breakfast sandwich. I was at a stand-still in the drive-thru waiting for my turn when I was rear-ended again. Not once, but twice! After the initial hit, I turned around to see who hit me and he hit me again because he thought he was pressing on the brake when in fact he was pushing on the gas. That got me 10 weeks of physical therapy because my head was sideways being jerked around like a bobblehead doll when I was hit the second time. I got whiplash. Luckily, I was able to have the car repaired and had many more years of driving it.
That brings me to my recent episode. I was not driving my car. I was helping out and driving a car back to the office after it was serviced. I was at a standstill at a traffic light minding my own business waiting for the light to change when I was hit from behind so hard my teeth rattled. I am really grateful the airbags didn’t deploy and that no one was hurt. The person who hit me was freaking out while trying to convince me it wasn’t that bad. I was nice about it, but explained that the car was not mine and that I had to call the police and get a report filed to have the car repaired, particularly since the bumper had a big hole in it and the back lights were broken out!
Anyway, who gets rear-ended three times (four if you count the double-tap at McDonalds) in their life-time? Luckily, being rear-ended, although traumatic, was not life-altering for me. Not everyone is that lucky. If you find yourself not knowing where to turn after you have, through no fault of your own, been in an accident, a call to Bordas & Bordas can get you and your vehicle on the right track to being made whole.
;)
