So we have all been driving on the intersate on Memorial day weekend and know it is one of the busiest times of year to be driving. We have all also been driving along when we see a cop.... your first reaction? Slow down.... Well, that is the wrong reaction. Your first reaction should be to get the hell away from the idiot as fast as possible, take the first exit you see, and let the cop get as far away from you as possible. So why am I writing this page? Well I got ran off the inerstate by SHERIFF C Ray Foster of Buchanan County, Virginia VA. So sure, I'm pissed and Here is why....
I'm on my way back from Northern VA after a business trip. It's been a long week and I'm ready to get home to see my family. My daughter, Maddie, was 1 and a half years old, and my son Max was 4 months old.
So I'm passing through Whytheville, VA. That's about Mile marker 73 on 81 South. That's about one more hour till I get home. I'm riding in the left lane just cruising along when I see a COP in my rear view. So naturally I slow down to let the COP pass me in the Right Lane... Anyone else see a problem here? Didn't I just tell you to run, hide, get away???? So the COP, Ray Foster, gets beside me and jerks his vehicle into my lane, remember he has now pulled right beside me. He is in the right lane and I am in the left... He is passing me and I am slow down...
When you see an SUV coming at you on the inner state and you are driving a honda civic, unless you have nerves of steele, you are going to steer away... So I steer left to avoid getting slammed into. And believe me, I'm 26, never been in an accident, and firmly believe in defensive driving. So I know when someone is just changing lanes, and you can beep your horn and let them know you are there and for them to hold their lane. But that is not what happed, the COP jerked his SUV into my lane. So I go left, luckily there is like an emergency lane to the left, I go over into that emergency lane to the left. The COP finally figures out that I am there, condidering he was passing me, you would think the COP would know I was there.... So I come back into my lane after the COP got back into his lane. The only problem being, at this point I did not know my tires have broken loose. I have never had a car whip around this fast in my life. I was completly sideways on the innerstate on memorial weekend. At this section of the innerstate there is three lanes, I cross all three lanes sideways. Wow!!! You would not believe how loud and rough of a ride that is. At one point it felt like I was like 20 feet above the car looking down on it... weird stuff. I can remember trying to correct the car and not getting on the breaks until I had no chance to save it. Somehow I must have passed in front of the COP and I'm not sure if someone was in the third lane or not, but when I could see the grassy area to the right of the innerstate it looked like the smoothest green field you have ever seen.
Ahhhh this is when the fun starts... As I roll into this beautifully flat field I lock my brakes down, smile a big smile, and can't wait to just slide to a stop. Then kaboom... the front of my car digs into a ditch, I'm guessing since I have my brakes locked down the rear of the car comes around and the rear tire folds over as it hits the ditch. This is when the drinks in my car went flying, my head busts out the drivers side window, and I go unconcious. I remember coming to and thinking wow I feel like I'm floating. I then realize that there is a lot of wind hitting me... was my head out of the window? Yep, that was exactly the case. I still had my right hand still on the steering wheel and my arm was straight. Now if you have not been in a honda civic lately, if your arm is straight your head is like 2 feet out of the window... So I wake up enough to pull myself back into the car. It serously felt like my neck was ripping off as I pulled myself back into the car. And that's it... I was back out.
If you've never been knocked out... when you come to it is like a bright light and kinda painful I wake up to some guy asking me if I'm ok. I bet that guy totally thought I was dead. He said he thought I was going to save it. :) I joked with him that NASCAR would not be calling. So as I'm coming to both my legs are wedged on the left side of the steering wheel, the roof smashed down on my head, in the distance I can hear an ambulance and a helicopter. At first they said I was going to get to take a helicopter ride, but something was up with it just being a training so I didn't get to fly. The ambulance showed up in no time. And there was a state trooper there while I was still in the car. Later I find out I was like 1 mile from the tropper headquarters and just a few miles from the hospital. Someone hands me my cell phone and I call the wife letting her know I'm ok... but of course she's worried to death trying to figure out what to do with our two little ones while trying to get to me. I look around and man, you can see all of my stuff spread off of the innerstate... my work shirts, my roof rack, my snacks, and all this crap just spread everywhere. The ambulance guys slap a neck brace on me, rip my door off and ask me when was the last time I was naked in public. Well, it had been a while ;) but within the next like 30 seconds they had cut my clothes off and I was but naked on the side of the innerstate. I could feel the wind off the cars LOL... If that doesn't suck enough the chick that was doing all of this was a total dyke... geeze if your gonna crash, be in pain, and have to have your clothes cut off, at least a hottie could do it... oh and be sure to wear some drawers if you are planning to be ran off the innerstate by a COP... LOL
It's a quick ride to the hosptial. I guess the only memoriable thing was getting the IV, that was a first for me.
So I get to this place and everything is pretty cool. But man, if you've never paid attention to the celing in a hospital, look up that crap is nasty... Ok, so they ask me what my pain level was, so the tough guy I am, I fire in with a 4 out of 10. I mean I felt like I had just finished a high school football game or something, a little beat up but I could still have made it to taco bell. Well, then came the xrays. I go in and they have me rolling all over holding my own head in these crazy positions. Well I start felling some pain... and since I'd had plenty of time to sit around and read all of those stupid pain posters about notifiying the staff as soon as you start to feel pain, I thought it was a good time to let them know I was starting to hurt. So the xray techs could care less, they tell me I can get something after the xrays and the Doctor OK's it. By this point I must have been swelling or something... I man every second I was starting to really really hurt worse and worse. So I'm still laying on the xray table trying to get through this crap as fast as possible... I'm having to listen to this guy and older lady talk about how crappy all of the other workers were there. Yeah... that's what you want to hear when your laying there in pain... So after like the 20th xray I was dying... and the guy start whistling, you know like whistling at a girl to say she is hot. I mean I'm usally pretty cool, I mean you remember the NASCAR joke right? lol Well at the second whistle sent me of the edge... I started screaming something like "Dude, what the F*** are you whistiling at?????" Ha yeah I know that dude probably thought I was the worlds biggest A** but man I would so smack him down if I had a clue who he was.... They finally take me back to my room. But... they just dropped me off. I mean just left me there for like 15 mins and noone said hey, someone will be here in a few minutes or what. I can't turn my head, so I can kinda see as people walk by my door. I don't have a button to call a nurse, so i start yelling as people walk by my door trying to get their attention. After about 5 people a nurse comes in and is pissed acting asking me what I want. But she got me some pain meds, so all is forgiven.
So I'm stilling laying in the bed and Trooper Pauley comes in asking me about the wreck... the guy is a total butt. I mean not nice at all. so pee pee on him 2. Oh and later, the totaly botched the police report, so I gave him a call asking him what the deal was, and trying to get him to fix the report, he played totally stupid, like he couldn't remember anything... COPS looking out for COPS... how nice...
My wife finally arrives a couple hours later. After picking some glass off my face, she does me the favor of cleaning the glass off my back... I mean seriously, I had been laying in glass for a few hours now. I brought it up to the hospital staff several times, but nothing was ever done. I mean, can't they shop vac you or something? So I was very thankful to have somewhat of a clean back.
So they finally wrap up all of their tests and tell me I can go. I need to go get my laptop, wallet, and gun out of my car. I mean I remember asking the ambulance guys to set my wallett on my chest so I would have ID and insurance at the hospital. So my wife takes me to the place that towed my car. It was like 1 mile from where I wrecked. They charged me like 200 bucks!!! And I had to pay it in cash, right then before I could get my stuff. So I finally get home at like midnight, sporting a neck brace that I got to sleep in for a couple of weeks :) wahoo!!
I get up Saturday and my little girl is so happy to see me. It's been a week since she's seen dad and she ready to play. Well, I could not pick her up, I could not get in the floor and play, I couldn't even do this silly thing where I tickle her with my nose due to the whiplash. My boy... only 4 months old... and I couldn't hold him :( I couln't pick up the milk jug to fix them a bottle I was basically no help to my wife with the kids.
I'm sure all insurances are about the same... But wow... I mean, I thought when you pay all that big money for great coverage things like uninsured motorist will pay off. The treated me like a dog, quizzing me about ever detail, and in the end bailing out on paying for anything. Arrhhh I'm so going to drop them as soon as I get all this settled. I could go on about this for hours... but never never talk to your insurance company before you get a lawyer. If you have a wreck your are the emeny.
I picked up a rental car thinking no big deal, the insureance will pick it up... wrong, I had to pay for it, and hope that the lawsuit goes my way so I can pay for it... otherwise i'm out like 600-1000 bucks for a rental for a few weeks. I don't remember right off what the exact cost was but i'll find out.
Now i'm sporting a 1990 ford bronco that I had to put like 2000 bucks into to get it back road ready. 1996 civic to a 1990 bronco... nice huh?
The COP Ray Foster is trying to get the case moved to his county so they can really screw me. I mean geeze, did I ask for this? I mean I was just trying to get home to my family. and Crap, i've been out like 5000 bucks for a year now.