Day 107: This Was Not A Good End To My Day

Let me ask this - how does a driver of a newer Cadillac CTS coupe in the lane next to a medium-sized SUV, when his face is even with about the sideview mirror of said SUV, happen to NOT see the SUV before he arbitrarily decides to change lanes on the highway going 65mph? I'm just asking because I'm curious.

Yep, tonight as I was on my way to my physical therapy appointment, some dumba$$ decided that he really needed to be where my car already was, and pulled right over into the side of my car as we were going about 65mph. I had seen him pull over into the lane next to me, just after traffic opened up on the highway past an accident. He kind of made a motion towards my lane that I caught out of the corner of my eye, so I slowed down a bit, hoping he'd go ahead of me. Unfortunately, it appears he kept coming, because the next thing I knew, my car was shaking and shuddering and squeaking and screeching as our cars traded paint and plastic. It took a few seconds (though it seemed like forever) to regain control of my car once we separated, and then we pulled over to the side of the road.

He knew he'd messed up, because he got out of the car saying "oh my gosh, I'm so sorry, I didn't see you." Well, obviously, but I point back to the question I asked at the beginning of this post. I had no interest in getting out of my car with my crutches while on the shoulder of the highway, so I made him do all the work. As it turned out, the car wasn't even his - it was his mother's, and she is in the hospital. So the insurance info was for the car, not for him, which theoretically complicates things. I got all of his contact info as well, and he said he would have his wife call me later that evening with his insurance info. She did, which was helpful.

I called my PT clinic and told them I'd be a few minutes late (I was early before this all went down). I called my insurance company when I pulled into the parking lot there, and filed the report. The agent didn't seem that concerned about me being at fault, but said someone would contact me tomorrow. She also didn't seem concerned about the two insurance companies on the other side, either.

My PT was shocked that I showed up, but I told him that a) I needed the work on the knee, and b) I needed the distraction. I was still shaking, and continued to do so for quite a while. Anger started to sneak in later in the evening.

The damage appears to be from the middle of the back passenger door (the plastic moulding), along the full front passenger door (moulding, bottom corner hinge), the front fender (dents, scratches, scrapes), the front wheel (scrapes), and the front bumper (scrapes, scratches). The front door screeches badly on the fender down at the bottom corner on the hinge side and takes paint off with every motion. I guess the car's going in to the body shop soon. Great, one more thing to worry about. Argh.