If you follow some of my social media accounts you may know that last week I was involved in a road traffic collision.
To be fair it was one of the most frightening experiences of my life.
What made it all the more scary was having Jacob (19 months) in the car with me at the time.
The morning started like any other with a school drop off and a list of things to do in my hand. First on the list was a trip to Tesco to get some food and collect a click and collect package that I had ordered.
We live about 25-30 minutes from the Tesco store we go to and it makes for a lovely drive along some country roads and through some villages.
As I was leaving a little country road and about to turn right onto a double planned carriage way leading to a bypass I realised I couldn’t see to my right through the glare of the sun.
So I came to a full stop at the junctions end to triple check it was clear.
Then my car was hit.
Not from the right as I had stopped to check the junctions end properly.
Instead I was hit from behind and shunted across the carriageway in front. I will forever be grateful that there was nothing coming at that precise second as it could have been so much worse.
During the collision I was thrown forward into the steering wheel where i banged my tummy on the steering wheel (damn having short legs) and my head. I also felt a little battered and bruised but nothing was broken or bleeding by my priority was Jacob.
While getting out the car I called the police as my car was obstructing the road and junction and they advised me to get Jacob out the car and away from the collision.
Thankfully the guy that had ploughed into the back of my car helped me get Jacob out and he seemed totally unhurt and even unfazed and in part I am putting it down to his rear facing car seat!
I don’t think I ever realised just how vulnerable babies and children are in the back of a car until that morning. So many people don’t use car seats correctly or are not fitted safely and this really can be so dangerous.
After swapping details and taking some photos for the insurance company we decided to move our cars out the way but with my car seats no longer safe to use I had to call my husband to come out of work to fetch Jacob to take him home while I waited for the AA to come as the back-end of my car had been damaged.
While waiting I had the pleasure of being breathalysed by the police as they arrived at the scene and then waited some more for the AA … who took nearly 2 hours to turn up.
After the lovely AA guy turned up he bent my bumper and wheel arch back so it was no longer sticking into my back tyre and secured my boot lid as it was no longer staying closed. I was then given the all safe to limp home and await collection from the insurance companies garage.
Although on the outside there didn’t seem to be too much damage I was told by the AA guy that the boot floor had all been shunted out-of-place and with being an older car the insurance might write it off.
If I’m honest I am hoping it’s not the case, its done less than 83,000 miles and it has been super reliable for the 7 years we have owned it.
I honestly wouldn’t wish that feeling of blind panic on having your kids in the car during a car accident on my worst enemy … I hope I never ever have another Friday like that again!
Now we wait for the aftermath of paperwork, phone calls and chaos that a car accident brings with it.
Eeek, so scary. I hope you get the car sorted without too much hassle x
thanks Kate, heard earlier that they are writing it off 🙁
oh, how scary! I’m glad you and Jacob were okay afterwards, I’m surprised you didn’t get whiplash being hit from the back! I hope the insurance company sorts it all out quickly, I know how distressing that can be. xx
I have sprained my back according to the GP and have pain in my elbow but will do an update post soon
Oh how frightening! I know that feeling so well, almost the exact same thing happened to me about a year ago on the way to school with both kids in the car. My car was written off and I went into complete shock – fortunately my husband wasn’t that far behind me and he was able to support me and help. If it helps, in my case, the man (who was very apologetic and seemed very nice) who drove into the back of us freely admitted it was his fault and the insurance settled things pretty quickly. Good luck, and I hope you also get things sorted smoothly x
aww Rachel I am so sorry this happened to you too. I was quite shaken up and have been immensely tearful since last Friday.
So far the insurance company has been super but have heard earlier today that they are writing off my car so now waiting for my offer before having to spend more time sorting things out 🙁
Thank goodness everybody was ok, obviously the guy behind you was not paying as much attention as you were.
My daughter still has the twins and Spud in rear facing car seats and they will all be remaining in them until the outgrow them, probably about 6 yrs old.
Modern car safety is such a great advancement and I know at least one of my neighbours who pops her kid into a car seat and has done since he was born and his older sister before him and does not do his straps up, never did the daughters either.
When hubby wrote our car off it was the what if’s the next day…..what if a somebody had been on the pavement we veered across, or what if somebody had been on the other side of the road we crossed..
Having you car written off is an almighty pain as they take the hire car back off you when they offer the settlement leaving you with no car to go and look for another one.
aww love thats exactly how i felt, i have spent all week thinking about how things could have been so very different and I honestly thank my lucky stars that there hadn’t been anything coming to the right or it would of without doubt have been so much worse.
I think the lady you know that doesnt do her kids straps up needs slapping .. what an utterly dangerous and stupid thing to do. I prey that she never ever has an accident as its not her that would suffer its would be those poor kids.
Car was officially written off earlier today and curtesy car is going back tomorrow but the insurance company are hiring me a car for a few days on Sunday (when I’m back from BML) to use till we have settled on a reasonable figure and the money is on its way to my bank. Although they are being good and allowing me 5 days after that to keep the car to find something else so i suppose thats something
I only just happened across this, I hope you’re okay and have recovered from the shock of what happened. My partner and I ended up upside down in a ditch a fews year ago and it’s not something I would wish on anyone. In my experience, the best way forward is to just be honest about been shaken up and recover in your own time.
Aww thanks Andrew, As silly as it sounds but 2 weeks on i still get immensely emotional about it and can cry in seconds thinking about it. They have now written off my car so I’m in the limbo land of counting down the days with the hire car and still not having a new car! … grumble grumble
Shunted into the carriageway! That terrifies me. You’re absolutely right about car seats. it took me time to apprecaite a car seat but I simply won’t compromise on them these days. the bigger, heavier and more awkward a child’s car seat, the safer it is! Glad you’re okay and hope you get the car repaired.
Thanks John, yep it was beyond scary. I think if it was just me i would have been fine but with Jacob in the car it terrified me and i still feel really emotional about it too
Glad i got to see you at BML this weekend, not long enough to catch up though so hope you are well?