That's pretty gnarly.

I hate to jump on the safety-nazi bandwagon (principally because I do tend to drive like somewhat of a loon) but I'm definitely there with you on the seat belt thing.

About 15 years ago I was riding along in a friend's '77 Camaro. We were going down the road at a pretty fair clip (I honestly don't know how fast, but definitely 60MPH+) and as we crested a small hill came upon a minivan stopped in the road about 75 ft ahead. He locked up the brakes and laid four pretty solid stripes all the way to the impact point. We hit the van slightly off-center towards the pax side. The Camaro (being of somewhat more solid construction) actually wound up protruding about two feet into the van, and of course both cars were totaled. We were both wearing seat belts, and despite having to crawl out through the windows walked away with basically zero injuries. Jon cut his hand on a piece of fender that was protruding past the drivers' window, and that was about it.

guys... anytime you are in an accident PLEASE go to the hospital immediately and get checked out. The vehicle insurance should cover the expense as the driver (even if it's you) is liable. The reason I say this is that I was in the emergency room several years back getting a penicillin shot for inflamed tonsils (couldn't swallow). A doctor walked into the ER room next to mine (seperated by curtains) and told a guy "I'm sorry, but there is nothing we can do for you at this point. The pain is going to continue getting worse for a few hours and you will likely die shortly after".

The story behind the guy was that he was involved in an accident a week prior. He didn't get checked out because he felt fine after the accident. Turned out that he had ruptured an internal organ (spleen I think it was) and was bleeding slowly until it started to hurt. He then waited another 2 days after it started hurting before getting it checked out not thinking it was related to the accident. I don't know what happened after that, but I'm sure he was dead before dinner.

AK, I'm glad you're OK. But make sure you get checked out if you are ever in an accident that severe again.

Ya, pretty sure that car isn't going to be able to be repaired. Glad you are ok. I was driving and a guy hit me in my driver side while I was driving my dad's van. He hit me going 40 mph, t-bone, shattered all the glass in on me, busted the door in so it hit my hip bone, and managed to do $8500 of damage. Airbags didn't go off. I felt like crap though. Luckily I didn't have one cut on my body. Bruised up good and had some whiplash though. Stupid people that can't drive piss me off. Some stupid lady t-boned my miata too in the same place, while it was parked and I was working...... If someone hits my miata while I am driving it, I have told myself already I am going to get out and bash their head repeatedly into their hood until they bleed excessively. And on a brighter note, I am a seatbelt nazi myself. :)

about a year ago, i was traveling west on la jolla village drive in san diego, its a 45 road and i was doing 50 when a genius in a Matrix decided to cut across 3 lanes of traffic perpendicularly and stop right in front of me before i really had much reaction time, I hit the brakes and they locked, bad move i know but i rammed the back of the matrix and i cause $6300 worth of damage to my $2200 car . . .i had my seatbelt on with the seat at about a 10 degree layback like i usually do (drive 100miles a day and u'll get used to sitting properly) The seatbelt held me in place perfectly but at the last second because braking wasnt doing anything i tried to duck to the right, which put my left forearm right int he path of the exhaust hole of the airbag, so i got a nice little 'fabric' style burn/rash as well as being hit be the exhaust flames of the airbag, i was SUPER pissed off at the guy that cut me off but i still went up to him politely to ask if he was alright(i knew he WAS, because his car was STOPPED) and he spills this stupid bullshit about his head and neck, and i said 'fuck you' and walked back to my car, he was rather upset but it wasn't till i got back to my car that i saw my arm was bleeding and looked pretty bad from the airbag, once again it did more harm than good but god bless seat belts,
http://i27.tinypic.com/4llveh.jpg

Wow.....I never once thought like that. I have walked away from 2 horrid accidents, and a handful of regular ones ( not all me driving ;) ) and never once went to the hospital, just an ambulance once. Imagine that shit! Damn, I hope I'll retain that info.

The pics are great, later on mixed with the previous story is almost like a virtual crash. Awesome that your ok man! Good thing about the seatbelt. And I will concur with a previous statement that I too would smash my friend across the face as he was doing that shit....no doubt in my mind. :vash:


Vash-

Glad you are OK BTW, i was suprised i was, and i had a 90 pound speakerbox behind my head (yea i know, LOL)
http://i27.tinypic.com/20a5s8x.jpg
Speakerbox + 50MPH impact :ne: Safety

I'm going home this weekend so I'm going to get checked. My doctor is my friends dad so I'm just going to go to their place since the doctor office will be closed.

Sounds like how my car was totaled just about 2.5 weeks ago. All though my wreck wasn't nearly as bad as yours. I swear my short term memory has sucked lately( since about 2-3 days ago)... I can't remember things people just told me or things I just read. I keep saying what did you say? I have been having periodic headaches/ dizzy and have been real lightheaded when I stand up.

aside from having recurrent pains in my wrist, im quite alright after the collision actually. if that speaker box had came loose i'd have been a goner i think, i saw this piece on it on 5th Gear about cargo slinging forward in a collision and F'in you up, i actually, while making it, thought to brace it (plumbers tape) and it held up astonishingly well, but im sorry to hear about your memory loss, seems that, as it hasn't been a long time since, it should return to you over time, i had temp memory loss in an unrelated incident and it came back after a couple months.
I hope you get well though man.

When will people learn not to take rides from nick hogan?

Anyways on a lighter note. If he had any insurance, make sure you have all the medical bills sent to his insurance company. They will also give you a pain and suffering settlement. If they don't, ask for one. Because they may be some long term injuries that you may suffer down the road from something that wasn't your fault. Also make sure you get medical coverage from them for anything that may be related to the accident a years way down the road. (Some injuries hide themselves for some time.)

I was a passenger in a roommates truck, and he blew a stop sign. We got t-boned by a civic going 55MPH, it separated the bed of the truck 2 feet from the cab. (And it hit the cab) I took the ambulance ride though, I was completely fine other than cuts and bruises, and seatbelt burn. But the next day a day outta the hospital I was miserable. Turned out, the accident cracked a vertebrae, and ruptured a disk in my back. So state farm had to pay for all that, and a years worth of physical therapy and chiropractic care, and also they gave me 5000 Pain and suffering just not to sue them.

You need to see a neurologist, and sooner the better.

Mark

This is seriously fubar, living in a country with free hospital care, and working in an emergency ward, this ticks me of.
Do you get free ambulancerides when obviusly seriously injured? Or do you get billed afterwards?

You guys need to fix your medical system, less war more medical care.
And as someone already said, get checked out if you've been in an accident, spleens don't kill you instantly, they tend to kill you 2 days after, when the little fixable gash on it ruptures and drains your blood into your bowel in 5 mins. (Still, the doc in the little story above was a complete idiot if it was the spleen, thats why they invented acute surgery, you can be perfectly healthy without your spleen).

glad you´re ok!

and yeah +1 for what markp said, go see a doc, might just be slight anemia from your bleeding, but don't take the chance.

Keep in mind that was at a smaller hospital, nearly 10 years ago, and it sounded like he had some kind of infection from the bleeding that was fucking up his other organs. It's been a long time, but I remember the "you're going to die soon" part.

You get billed afterwards.

With very few exceptions, there is no "free" medical care here. The Federal government does not directly subsidize hospitals, ambulances or medical staff (with the exception of the military) although the various state and municipal governments sometimes do to a small extent. For the most part however, it doesn't matter if you are shot in the chest by a robber while delivering kittens to an orphanage, your medical treatment will cost money.

Many, if not most Americans, are covered by some form of private health insurance. The insurers themselves are primarily for-profit corporations. In many cases, the cost of the insurance is paid for by a persons employer. "Free" health insurance is considered a customary benefit associated with most large employers, though generally not for lower-level employees such as those earning minimum wage or those working part-time. I do not know the history of how this practice came to be, it just is.

Those people who are self-employed generally pay for their own health insurance, often through some sort of group discount plan. For instance, the Realtor's Association (not a union, but similar) in a particular state might decide to approach a certain insurance carrier and strike a deal whereby the insurer will provide a discount to all Realtors who are a member of the organization, to entice them to use that particular carrier.

In almost all of these cases, there are certain limitations on how the insurance company will pay out. Usually, there is a "co-pay" which means that for any given procedure the insured pays a small, fixed amount and the insurer pays the rest. There might also be limits on the total payout for a given policy over a given time.

For those who are unemployed, retired or permanently disabled, there are various forms of insurance subsidy provided by the Federal government in the form of the Welfare system, Medicare, etc.


There is also a strong tradition of the distribution of a person's health care costs being decided in the civil court system. Say, for example, that I am driving down the road and you hit me with your car. I am seriously injured and require hospitalization. The whole affair costs me $30,000. Assuming I have health insurance, it is likely that my insurer will sue either you or your insurer to attempt to recoup this cost. If the court finds that you were negligent and caused me to be injured, then your insurer will pay. If you have no insurance, then the court will compel you to pay directly.

What's even more fucked up, I was in a 13 car pile up in MI. The insurance covered the truck I was in (belonged to GM, my client at the time). The truck was the only vehicle that did not leak fluids and/or catch fire. I received a bill for $325 for "hazardous materials clean-up and emergency response vehicle dispatch". They charged me for cleaning up the mess with other peoples cars and to have the fire/police show up. Insurance refused to pay the fee since it was "not directly related to the accident".

are you kidding me, this is America! Our govt doesn't care about its people, just about corporate profits and keeping us in order.

+1, our government "of the people, by the people, and for the people" is a fucking joke.

So you want "universal health care" so everyone can pay out the ass in more taxes and get less health coverage? Thanks, but no thanks. :jerkit:


AK, Glad to hear you're okay man. I seriously would think about finding some new friends honestly. That fuckoff doens't think th "300" horsepower mustang can break the tires loose in the rain? Sounds more like a typical honda owner pulling that bullshit to me. "Wonder if my car will go out of control if I hit the ebrake at 100...."

damn that fuckin crazy.lucky u wore a seatbelt..i still wont

you still won't wear a seatbelt? are you serious?? Like..honestly you look forward to your death?

I can't imagine anyone growing up in current society and believing that you don't need to wear a seat belt. Hell people practically gasp when they hear my car doesn't have air bags.

When my 2000 Eclipse wrecked, while I know that the air bag did nothing. If I didn't have a seatbelt on I'm relatively positive I would have gone through the windshield. Considering the Camry in front of me ended up with his rear axles broken and wheels facing like this \ --------- /