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Car accident
2 years ago
It took me a couple of days to emotionally process this. I was a bit of a mess on the day it happened.
I live fairly close to a railroad track. Its close enough that it takes just five minutes to walk to the tracks. Under a minute if you use a car.
The road we have to take to get to the mail boxes and the main road is a private one, laid with gravel. The point where the train tracks cross through the road is paved and it has signs, but no train crossing guards or anything like that.
Nearly three days ago, on April 25th, my father went out to the grocer to do some very light shopping. This happens every few days, but this time things went very different...
This time...my father's car got hit by a train. It even made the news on three local news websites, though thankfully they didn't mention my dad by name or get detailed about it.
It was a passenger side collision and the airbags in his car failed to deploy. He was wearing his seat belt and that kept him from getting more than a cracked sternum, so I'm thankful for that. Usually when I hear about "car vs train" accidents on the news, the outcome is far worse. The fact my dad survived with only a cracked sternum was an outright miracle.
He was in good enough condition that he was able to move around on his own, though I don't know if he needed help to get out of the car or not. The collision totaled the car though.
I can't say if my dad was on his way back from the store or on his way to the store when it happened, I heard of it after the fact. What I know is that the train failed to sound its horn to warn him that it was coming, the police judged that he attempted to cross when he wasn't supposed to, and that its not likely that we can't claim insurance for it (I think that's what they said). The vehicle was lease-to-own too and we barely had it for two weeks.
I was an anxious mess all day that day and I even broke down crying for a few minutes. I always considered my dad a grumpy jerk for a 70-something, finding reasons to get cranky if the there were less than 7 bowls in the kitchen cabinet. But he's also the only father I have. This accident rattled me good.
But as for his injuries... As I said, he got very damn lucky. They kept him at the hospital overnight for observation and released him yesterday around mid-morning. He can't bend over or lift anything heavier than a few pounds until his sternum heals and that could take a few months.
As for transportation... We're looking for a new car again. I think we've got a rental for now, so we can still go shopping. But I don't think anyone will want to go anywhere any time soon after that very damn close call...
I live fairly close to a railroad track. Its close enough that it takes just five minutes to walk to the tracks. Under a minute if you use a car.
The road we have to take to get to the mail boxes and the main road is a private one, laid with gravel. The point where the train tracks cross through the road is paved and it has signs, but no train crossing guards or anything like that.
Nearly three days ago, on April 25th, my father went out to the grocer to do some very light shopping. This happens every few days, but this time things went very different...
This time...my father's car got hit by a train. It even made the news on three local news websites, though thankfully they didn't mention my dad by name or get detailed about it.
It was a passenger side collision and the airbags in his car failed to deploy. He was wearing his seat belt and that kept him from getting more than a cracked sternum, so I'm thankful for that. Usually when I hear about "car vs train" accidents on the news, the outcome is far worse. The fact my dad survived with only a cracked sternum was an outright miracle.
He was in good enough condition that he was able to move around on his own, though I don't know if he needed help to get out of the car or not. The collision totaled the car though.
I can't say if my dad was on his way back from the store or on his way to the store when it happened, I heard of it after the fact. What I know is that the train failed to sound its horn to warn him that it was coming, the police judged that he attempted to cross when he wasn't supposed to, and that its not likely that we can't claim insurance for it (I think that's what they said). The vehicle was lease-to-own too and we barely had it for two weeks.
I was an anxious mess all day that day and I even broke down crying for a few minutes. I always considered my dad a grumpy jerk for a 70-something, finding reasons to get cranky if the there were less than 7 bowls in the kitchen cabinet. But he's also the only father I have. This accident rattled me good.
But as for his injuries... As I said, he got very damn lucky. They kept him at the hospital overnight for observation and released him yesterday around mid-morning. He can't bend over or lift anything heavier than a few pounds until his sternum heals and that could take a few months.
As for transportation... We're looking for a new car again. I think we've got a rental for now, so we can still go shopping. But I don't think anyone will want to go anywhere any time soon after that very damn close call...
Great to hear he is still alive and able to still move.