My car was totalled.

[NNadir]

A woman ran a stop sign. I hit her at 40 mpg. My car was destroyed.

Seat belts and air bags saved my life. Just a lot of bruises and soreness.

Ralph Nader can still go fuck himself.

[BootinUp]

1. Dang. I know that's no fun.

Take care of yourself, might take awhile to recover.

[Easterncedar]

2. Glad you're ok

How about the other driver?

[NNadir]

3. Well she was running around the intersection saying...

..."oh shit I'm in trouble."

[blm]

4. Yikes

Wishing you a complete recovery.

[PortTack]

5. Sometimes life sucks!! Sorry. Glad you're not hurt, but oh what a pain to buy a new or newer car..urghh

[calimary]

6. Bummer. But thank goodness YOU'RE okay!

[swong19104]

7. I'm no fan of Nader, but

what does he have to do with all this? Human-driven vehicles are involved in 6 million accidents a year in the US, 2.5 million injuries (such as yours and the other woman's), and 40,000 deaths (thank god no one died here, right?).

Legislative changes brought about due to pressure by people like Ralph Nader put those seatbelts and airbags in your car as requirements. I think you ought to give a nod of thanks to him.

[NNadir]

9. Sam Alito, John Roberts, and 200,000 dead Iraqis...

...kind of preclude any thanks from me.

[Mopar151]

11. Plenty of real heros in this story

John Fitch. Early advocate for seatbelts. Ray Harruon, winner of the first Indy 500, inventor of the rearview mirror.

[Maraya1969]

41. I want to know tool. Maybe someone will notice the double thread here.

[crickets]

8. Wow, I'm so glad you're okay. Sorry about your car.

Take care of yourself; your neck is likely to be very tender tomorrow morning regardless of the airbag.

[NNadir]

10. I am in a lot of pain already in the chest.

That airbag hits with a lot of force.

They did a CT scan. No major internal injuries.

[crickets]

28. Ouch! Glad to hear the scan was okay. Feel better soon. *gentle air hug* nt

[Tanuki]

12. I am so sorry this happened but relieved that you're ok!

I hope you don't experience any delayed whiplash symptoms in a day or two. What a reminder of how vulnerable we are to other people's carelessness and bad decisions!

[brer cat]

13. I'm glad you are ok. Take care of yourself; there can be

many delayed reactions after an accident like that.

[mnhtnbb]

14. Well, shit. That's awful

but glad you are ok. Many, many years ago before I'd even met my husband, a woman pulled out in front of him while he was on the Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu. He was probably doing 55+. Totaled his classic Porsche. Prior to airbags. He walked away with a broken nose and reduced sense of smell because of it.

Glad you're ok. What a nightmare.

[littlemissmartypants]

15. Oh, no!! I'm so glad you're okay! Don't know what else to say but I've been there

And any Ralph Nader can still go fuck himself.

[2naSalit]

16. At least you weren't totaled!

I hope you recover quickly and I hope you find a nicer car than you had.

[CountAllVotes]

22. Those are very kind thoughts

Thank you for this.

[cachukis]

17. Quick recovery

[Solly Mack]

18. Glad you're OK aside for the bruising and soreness.

Sorry about the car and the whole experience.

[Niagara]

19. Sending healing vibes, NNadir.

Other than bruises and soreness, I'm glad that you're alright.

[a kennedy]

20. My worst nightmare, is exactly this, getting hit by someone and totaling my car.

Hopefully you’ll recover soon with no problems.

[CountAllVotes]

21. Same here

Bad accident on the 27th of Sept.

A rock hit the undercarriage of my car, it spun out, flipped over and the car was totalled. The air bags failed to deploy.

I'm in rough shape still, a month later.

I had to buy another car as these senior citizen places were of no help.

Meals on Wheels was gross.

I'm a wreck not soon to recover.

Get to the ER to get checked out and get as much sleep as you can!

Take care ((NNadir)).

[NNadir]

23. Wow. I'm very sorry to hear that.

That's terrible, and I hope you eventually get back on your feet.

I feel almost guilty based on your experience.

The safety systems on my car worked perfectly. (It was a 2023 Toyota Camry Hybrid LE.) Toyota Safety Sense actually called me, and then called the cops to come.

I'm experiencing significant pain - those air bags give quite a whack - but not so much as to be dysfunctional. My CT scan was clean. I expect to recover.

There were a few minutes that I thought I was going to be in trouble, because of the chest pains and a surge in my blood pressure, but the EKG came back clean and eventually my blood pressure fell back to normal. The chest pain is probably bruising from the air bag. I bit my tongue and it's weirdly bruised.

I'm a senior citizen too, but still working, and my boss called me from Europe to express sympathy, saying that he just wants me to rest because he relies on me.

I called the dealer I bought the car from last year; there's still a long lead time, but he hopes he'll be able to get me one before the end of the year, once the insurance sorts out.

[CountAllVotes]

25. I'm not doing well

The pain has been awful.

It was a 22 year old car so no collision on it.

I'm alone an SOL.

[Marthe48]

24. Sorry to hear this

Hope the other driver has insurance and you get a replacement you like.

[MLAA]

26. Sending you virtual (real ones would hurt!) hugs and good vibes for quick healing of the sore chest.

Also glad to hear your boss was understanding. Take care you are an excellent contributor her at DU and I value your posts.

[ProfessorGAC]

27. Hope You Heal Quickly

Airbags are life savers, but they do pack a punch!

[Irish_Dem]

29. Any crash you walk away from is a good crash.

This is what we said in US Air Force families when I was growing up.
Applies to car crashes too.

Sending you good vibes.

[Chi67]

30. Been there too

It's awful. I went through this decades ago with an old car I restored. And I was broke at the time. It took the wind out of my sails for sure.

Just remember that it is just a thing. It can be replaced eventually. Lives can't be and you have your life. If you are a car-lover like myself, I get it. It sucks big time.

Look at it this way, your car saved your life. It did its job. Be glad it did what it was supposed to do.

[highplainsdem]

31. I'm so sorry your car was totalled, but thankful you weren't hurt worse.

A relative of mine was driving babysitters home when a teenager ran a stop sign at 60 mph and T-boned her car, knocking it out of the intersection. The kids were okay, thank God, but she still has some back problems from the collision, 30 years later.

[Permanut]

32. Wow, close call!

Get well, NNadir, wishing you a speedy recovery.

[berniesandersmittens]

33. I'm so glad you're ok!

That's a hard hit. You're probably going to be sore for a while.

[True Dough]

34. Any possibility that your next car

could be nuclear-powered?

Hope that chest soreness is short-lived. Be well.

[NNadir]

35. Well, if I were to buy an electric car - I won't for environmental reasons - it would be partially so.

New Jersey happily has two functioning nuclear plants actively working against climate change.

In a fantasy world that doesn't yet exist but is certainly technically feasible, but not likely, I would have a hybrid car that ran on DME, (dimethyl ether) that would be generated by increasing the exergy of nuclear plants using thermochemical cycles and/or reforming of waste products.

New Jersey has lots of coastline, and I often fantasize about cleaning our local seas by sourcing supercritical water from seawater, and using that supercritical water to reform the vast municipal trash resources of New Jersey and New York city to make syn gas for DME synthesis. This process would also indirectly allow for direct air capture of CO₂.

That would be a cleaner world, as opposed to the increasingly dirty world in which we live.

Although I am a hypocrite to the extent that I am an active participant in the car CULTure, I do not believe the car CULTure is sustainable. It is already far more dangerous than nuclear power plants, but then again most of modern life's practices are far more dangerous than nuclear power plants, although selective attention holds differently.

[True Dough]

37. May the next car you acquire be to your satisfaction

even if it's foot-powered (also an environmentally-friendly approach)!

[NNadir]

38. I loved the car that just got wrecked. I was coaxing close to 60 mpg out of it.

I felt guilt about the fact that it had a lithium battery, but to my mind, to satisfy my professional needs and my environmental values, it was combinatorically optimized.

It broke my heart that the car was destroyed, because it was such a pleasure to drive, with a nice radar controlled cruise control, albeit one that could not stop when someone shot into the intersection.

There was a time in my life, by the way that I commuted and lived using muscle power. For about three years when I lived in LA I got around by bicycle. I have had three major bicycle accidents in my life, two of which were in LA, and one, on Long Island involving, left me in coma for three days, at which time I was evaluated to see if I was a candidate for organ donation. I may be brain dead, but they let me live anyway.

People generally did not wear bicycle helmets in those days, and I wasn't wearing one.

As an environmentally sustainable transportation tool, it is hard to argue that anything can match a bicycle. Although it was inconvenient and dangerous, especially in a car CULTure metropolitan suburban area like LA County, there were huge health benefits, breathing car pollution notwithstanding. I was in the best physical shape of my life, riding on an average day for three or four hours.

[True Dough]

39. You cheated death, thankfully

Cycling on major thoroughfares is indeed incredibly dangerous, especially in an era now of distracted driving with so many people using their phones while they drive.

And almost 60 mpg out of your last car! WOW!!!

[NNadir]

40. Once the insurance stuff clears, I'm getting exactly the same car.

There's something of a lead time, but I already spoke to the salesperson who helped me get the last one. Apparently the lead time is now about 2 months.

I strongly suspect that the woman I hit was texting or engaged in some other distraction. I believe she had not even slowed for the stop sign and probably didn't even see it, although it all happened so fast, I'm not sure what was up with her.

My serious bicycle accidents all took place before the advent of cell phones though.

[Major Nikon]

36. Glad to hear you are mostly OK

Same thing happened to me last November. A guy texting ran a red light and totaled my car. Air bags all deployed and I came out of it just shaken up a little.

Fuck Ralph Nader sideways with a cactus.

[Upthevibe]

42. NNadir......

I'm sorry to hear that. I hope you're feeling better.

My car was probably totaled yesterday too. I was making a left hand turn and a car that should have stopped at a stop sign didn't and rammed into me. He was in a truck. It's a miracle no one was hurt.

The next step is for me to call my insurance company. It happened around 5:30 p.m. while I was on my way home from work.

[NNadir]

43. I'm sorry to hear that. It really sucks. Im just...

...getting to face all the complicated insurance stuff.

I'm pretty happy with my insurance company though. They've been great so far.