Have you had a traffic accident? How did you react? What did you learn from the experience?

Question

Last Friday morning I rear-ended what was probably a stopped vehicle on an interstate highway. It was dark, I crested a hill and didn't see the vehicle until it was too late to stop or swerve around him.

After the accident the vehicle I hit left the scene and I never found out who he was. My vehicle was most likely totalled, but I was completely uninjured. My airbags didn't even deploy.

I was disoriented for a few minutes, but called 9-1-1, my wife and my insurance company in that order on my cell phone. I'm glad to be okay, and I've been putting things together and I think I was pretty much aware of what was going on prior to the accident and was basically in the right.

The driver I hit was likely intoxicated, or engaged in illegal activity, or uninsured, or an illegal alien or all of the above.

Have you had an experience like this? Share your experiences with any accidents you might have had. I hope we can all learn from them.

It was about 6 a.m. Friday morning, CDT, and dark. The pavement was essentially dry, although there had been some morning dew.

My speed was most probably about 60 mph, but could have been as low as 55 and as high as 65. The vehicle has no cruise control and I drove it mainly by engine sound, and usually was within 5 mph of my preferred nighttime driving speed of 65.

I was southbound on I-37. The vehicle I struck was an older sedan, probably from the '70's or early '80's. Its taillights were on, but were dim. The vehicle was either stopped or moving very slowly, and my impression was that it was stopped.

My comments about illegal aliens are totally fair. We have a lot of them in this part of South Texas, and a lot of them drive vehicles just like the one I hit. This driver obviously wanted nothing to do with Law Enforcement. And--as I always do--I was wearing my seatbelt with its integrated shoulder harness. I believe that was the main reason I was unhurt. My impact speed was low enough to not deploy airbags.

Right now I am sitting in a radio station newsroom listening to police scanners. Five miles north of where my accident took place tonight there was a major theft bust involving at least five or six people. Along that same interstate in the last two years there have been probably at least a dozen drug busts and there have been numerous dumpings of dead bodies. So there is plenty of illegal activity, and my time of day was absolutely the right time for some of that to be taking place. So my comments about illegal activity, intoxication, illegal aliens, et. al. are totally within the realm of possibility and one of them at least is highly likely. And I am not profiling or being racist. I know a number of good people who happen to be aliens, most of them legal. I am against illegal immigration but I believe in compassionate treatment for illegal aliens who are otherwise obeying the law. My comments are based on (1) my knowledge of the area, and (2) experience as a newsman.

Answer 1

I've been investigating traffic collisions as a collateral assigment for over two years, and most of them are just fender-benders, some are really bad, and people get killed.

People flee from collisions from a variety of reasons, like you say, many are unlicensed, uninsured, many are just plain scared. Many times they are also under the influence of alcohol or narcotics.

In many circumstances it's difficult for law enforcement to locate the other party involved in a hit and run, it's primary due to a lack of witnesses and suspect vehicle information. However, if the vehicle can be identified by the victim, in California the vehicle can be impounded by law enforcement for investigation purposes.

The majority of city accidents are caused by right-of-way violations, making unsafe turns, unsafe backing, not yielding the right-of-way to oncoming traffic, etc. The next most common cause is unsafe speed. Alot of people who flee know they are the cause of the collision, and can't afford to get another point on their driving record, or fear they will be arrested for the violation.

Maybe you can post more details of how your collision happened?

Answer 2

Your indictment of the hit & run driver was unfair particulary the "illegal immigrant" swipe. Whether he was any or all of those things...he fled because he was panicked, scared, in shock and knew he had done wrong and was in for big trouble. But regardless. You have to protect yourself in all events no matter the cause or circumstances.

You were lucky.

My advice.

Always wear a seatbelt. They almost never fail.The odds are fantastic that it'll save you from serious injury, or any injury at all And in high impact accidents save your life.
You can make all the stupid arguments you want, but there's lots of people walking around looking good because they wore a seatbelt...and lots in wheelchairs and early graves who did not.