Over
the past year, especially over the last couple of weeks, I have found that
sometimes the best way to protect my son is to not share everything with him.
Just over a week ago we didn’t have much choice when I was rear ended on my way home. He knew that I was supposed to be home to tuck him in and when I called
that night to tell my wife what had happened and that I would be home in time,
he knew something was wrong and he worried about me for most of the weekend.
When the same thing happened to me this morning on my way to work I was able to
let my wife know and we didn’t mention anything to our son… in fact, he was
happy to see me home when my wife walked through the door after picking him up
from daycare.
That’s
right, the same thing happened. Well, almost the same thing. Either way, our
son didn’t need to know what happened…
The
incident occurred while on my way to work this morning. I was traveling in the
left lane heading eastbound on the PA Turnpike in inconsistent traffic. Traffic
was going about 40-50 mph but, soon after passing the Downingtown exit, traffic
ceased to move. I came to a halt about 1.5-2 car lengths between myself and the
car in front of me. When the car came to a complete stop I noticed in the rear
view mirror, first in my peripheral vision and then with nearly instant focus,
that the Gray Ford F250 behind me was not stopping. I did not hear any brakes.
When
he impacted the rear of the rental card I was in at the time (a White 2016 Dodge Dart for those who need the reminder) I was forced approximately 2-2.5
car lengths forward. Thankfully, I avoiding the car in front of me by guiding
the now super-compact car toward the median. After taking about 5 minutes to
collect myself and after Turnpike personnel blocked all lanes of traffic I
drove the car to the right shoulder of the road about 50-100 yards from impact.
Turnpike
personnel, PA Troopers, EMT, and the towing company were on scene soon after the
accident. The other driver admitted to me and to others on the scene that he
had taken his eyes off the road. The Trooper collected our information and took
statements for the incident report. I was taken to the hospital in an ambulance
soon after since this was the second such accident in about ten days. Thankfully,
they didn’t find anything in the slew of x-ray that I received and I was
discharged shortly after noon.
Just
when I was beginning to feel better from the previous accident and starting to
catch up on everything, I was out of the office for another day and everything else
was put on hold as the stiffness and soreness set in. By the time our son came
home, I was able to hide the pain and discomfort so that our son would not
worry again. I hate keeping things from him but I also hate seeing the worry on
his face and the tossing and turning that it causes him at night. Hopefully,
this is the last time I have to hide something like this from him… hopefully
this meets my accident quota for a while… I don’t know how much more my body
can take of this. At least now I am in a slightly bigger car as compared to the
Dart… a fully loaded 2016 Chevy Suburban.
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