An Unexpected Hiccup

Day 29 – Thursday, March 15th

On my way to work this morning, I was rear-ended on the highway.  I had just crossed over the Bond Bridge going south on I-35 (main North to South highway in KC).  Traffic in front of me slowed…as did I.  I didn’t make one of those super-quick, look in the rear-view mirror to be sure the people behind you stopped too kind of stops…so you can imagine my surprise when swerving cars caught my eye in the rear-view mirror…and I felt an impact.  I knew it wasn’t too bad and I wasn’t hurt so I moved my car to the left shoulder, grabbed my phone to call the police and got out to make sure the other drivers were ok. 

Behind me were two cars…a 10-ish year old cranberry minivan with a male driver who was injured and a newer mint green Honda Element with a crunched front end…but the driver was out of his car and seemed to be fine.  After a couple of attempts, I called the police, checked on the driver of the minivan and gave a status update to the paramedic dispatcher.  We worked with the injured driver to move his car from the center lane to the shoulder and before I was off the phone, the police had already arrived…go KCMO!

I walked back to my car to assess the damage and grab my insurance card and license.  Considering the crash occurred on the highway, I was incredibly lucky.  The rear passenger bumper of my SUV had only minor scrapes and dings which can hopefully be buffed out and repainted.  Once the medics arrived, their standard protocol is to assess the driver of each vehicle to ensure they can be released without going to the hospital.  As they finished my assessment, I asked about the pregnancy.  Because the impact was so minor, it’s unlikely I would experience any negative side-effects…very comforting words to hear.

My car had the least amount of damage and was drivable so the officers took my statement first and allowed me to leave the scene right away…I still made it to work in time for my 8:30am team meeting!  Before the day ended, I had already given my statement to our insurance company and their estimator came to assess the damage and provide a quote…go Travelers!  I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t an inconvenience but all-in-all, I’m probably the happiest person you’ve ever encountered post-crash…I’m ok, the car is ok and hopefully TeamPug’s newest addition continues to grow.