Desert Coyote

Yesterday morning, Stitch became the meat in a traffic sandwich. While driving home from classes, a slowdown on the expressway made the Buick in front of me make a panic stop. I hit my brakes hard and tried to steer away from the Buick, trying not to hit her, but then I get whacked from behind by a lady driving a Firebird.



Stitch came out in critical condition. The radiator is now L-shaped, there may be severe engine damage (car shut down and would not restart), the hood and grille are pushed in severely. In the rear, the right side of the hatch is pushed in, a chunk of the rear bumper is GONE, the rear fender has been pushed in at least a foot and (worst of all) the rear axle is bent so severely that it pushed the right rear tire into the fender well. Not only will the car not drive, it won't even roll now.

I'm waiting for the insurance adjuster to call me, hopefully today, with the damage estimate, but with axle damage like that and the speed I was hit (I'm guessing the Firebird was going at least 45), I would not be surprised if Stitch is totalled.

As far as my personal condition, I have a scraped knuckle, a mark on my forehead where I think my hat gave me rug burn, and a mark on my left shoulder from the seat belt. I'm a little stiff this morning (not like that's much of a surprise with me), and very, very heartbroken. An indication of how hard I got hit: my glasses flew off of my face when I was hit from behind, and three hours later when clearing my personal effects out of the car, I found them in the REAR CARGO AREA, almost all the way back at the hatch.

It sounds to me like Geico is going after the Firebird with all barrels blazing. Even the Firebird's insurance adjuster (she had Allstate) agreed that she probably pushed me into the Buick.

I'll have pictures later on when I get them from my wife's camera. In the meantime I'm driving her G6 and considering my options until the adjuster calls. If it's totalled out, I guess I pay off Stitch and go back to Paddock and get Stitch II.

HillsdaleHHR

That sucks. The whole time I was reading I was thinking STITCH II and then I read it . As far as your physical condition, did you get seen by a doctor? When I was rear ended I never went to see a doctor because I was just sore and thought nothing was wrong. Now everyone once and awhile I get these shoulder/neck aches that I'm sure are related to the accident.

jx3

Poor Sticth! Glad to hear you came out unscathed.
Wouldn't be surprised to hear if it is "totaled" by the insurance co.

captain howdy

That sucks but at least you're okay.

karen1953

Sorry for that, Stitch, (sorry to say) can be replaced.
But you need to see a Doctor asap, some accident problems don't show up right away, and if you have not seen a Doctor right after the event, Insurances say Oh well.
I know this is a fact it happened to me, I was T-boned at the Drivers door, Was uncon, for a few minutes, woke up , was having muscle spams, did not go to the Doctor, cause I was fine, just real pissed.
A few weeks later, I was having some problems with my vision, and my right arm.
Found out that I had a Skull Fracture, and this was causing my vision problem as well as my arm problem. Insurance said You did not go and see a Doctor within the 48 hr, so We do not know when this has happened. Health Insurance said well you were in an accident you need to have them pay. Bottom line I had to pay for all of the Medical bills for this accident.
Please go to a Doctor today not in the Morning, But today.
Again So Sorry about Sticth.

Hellraisehr

geico is great about claims and carubba is a good place to go to up on dalaware ..i to just had a fender bender and they got me back on the road in no time .only thing is they gave me a dodge neon for a rental ....pos neon...

PhxHHR

Glad to hear you're okay, my friend - as others have advised, see a doc just for the heck of it. At a minimum, to have something on record that you got checked over shortly after the accident; you may need a record like that sometime in the future!
The good new is, you're okay AND you get to (perhaps/hopefully) get another new HHR. Choose well, my friend, if that ends up being the result.
Good Luck!

Desert Coyote

At least I have another car I can use, and getting it to park on campus was no problem (parking office told me I could use my old pass on the G6).

As far as collision shops go, I'm having it towed to Schmidt's on Sheridan, mainly because Geico has an on-site claim adjuster there, so I can (hopefully) get a quick verdict.

As far as my physical condition goes, I'm feeling no different than I usually do. Anybody who knows me knows I'm already stiff and slow-moving, so this is no different. I already told both Geico and Allstate, if I start feeling worse I'm going in. (my scrapes are already recorded by both)

The worst thing about this whole situation? The line of traffic which caused the initial panic brake was gawking at some teenager who was threatening to jump off a pedestrian overpass near Vulcan Street (two exits after where I got in the wreck). While in the cop's car getting my statement taken, I heard the dispatcher call about it. Doesn't that beat all?

hookupny

The car won't start because of the fuel safety switch, in a rear in collision, the fuel shut off is activated. just reset the shut off switch and you should be able to restart. It's easy, takes a few seconds.
Oh, and always follow the 2 second rule everyone.

Desert Coyote

Okay, that's good to know. Starting it would do no good, however, since the rear axle won't even roll, but thanks for the information. I did not know there was a cut-off. Just out of curiosity, where is the reset for the cut-off?