Comments welcome by email. I don't care if you disagree with me but name-calling and cussing are not acceptable. Comments that are just rude and not relevant will not be posted.
Ick! But some good advice to follow if you're pulled over by the police:
"Pull to a safe area, hands on the steering wheel, 10 and 2. If we can see your hands then we know we're not going to get hurt. We want to see your hands. If it's nighttime hours flick your dome light on so we can see what's going on in the vehicle."
time = 9 seconds: Half way into the 9th second the truck hits you. It's going at 18MPH and you're going 10MPH, but it feels like much more than an 8MPH impact. Your foot is shaking on the brake pedal.
The "Move Over Act" (Sec. 545.157 of the Texas Transportation Code) requires motorists approaching emergency vehicles that are stopped with their lights flashing by the sides of roads to move out of the lanes closest to these vehicles or to reduce speed to 20 mph under the posted limit.
"This is a new low for the auto industry, and it would make George Orwell proud," said Daniel Becker, a global warming expert at the Sierra Club.
Federal regulations originally set less-stringent fuel economy and emissions requirements for light trucks to avoid penalizing builders, farmers and other working people who relied on pickups. But the exemption opened the way for automakers to replace sedans and station wagons with vehicles that fit the definition of a light truck, notably sport utility vehicles and minivans.
4. Got rear ended. Apparently the lady behind me was ready, READY ALREADY!, for me to begin driving when the light turned green. I, however, was just beginning to let my foot off the brake and onto the gas when a loud bang occurred, scaring the kids, and shattering a nice big oval into my bumper. I had plans to photograph the kids at play with friends at Latchkey. There's no time for that after exchanging contact and insurance information.
5. Hey! The Columbus Police Department has their Accident Reporting forms online! Thanks, friendly neighborhood police officers!
6. Spent a good half hour puzzling over the driver error portion of the Accident Report. I'm supposed to say what the other driver did wrong, and there is nothing on the list that is an obvious choice. I mean, shouldn't "REAR ENDED ME" be one of the selections? I think it should. Instead, I try to choose between "4 Following Too Closely or ACDA" and "11 Improper Start from Parked Position." I don't know what ACDA is. I search for it on the internet. I can only find it on the form I'm filling out.
7. I email my friend who works at the Police Department as a dispatcher, and ask her. Woo! She rocks! She gets back to me within ten minutes with the consensus from the police officers she knows. I should select 4. Oh yeah, and ACDA means Assured Clear Distance Accident. Gosh, that should have been obvious.
Road Hazards!
