OT: ALWAYS wear your seatbelt

[WaspHunter]

Re: OT: ALWAYS wear your seatbelt

Wow. That is one serious accident.

Good to see that despite now being a statistic, you aren't one that requires flowers on the side of the road.

Get better, and hopefully you'll be on these forums in a few months with a new Banana, even if it isn't a Cav

[SpoiledMan]

Re: OT: ALWAYS wear your seatbelt

Good to hear that you're still in one piece!

PLEASE REMEMBER: It is more important that you wear your seat belt in a car that has airbags than in a car without. Those bags can kill you when not using a seat belt in low speed crashes. I've seen it with my own eyes.

[Tom Claessens]

Re: OT: ALWAYS wear your seatbelt

Good to see you're still alive.
I always wear my seat belt though my car's quite old (13 years already!) and has no airbags.

On a side note, I guess the car is going to be recycled, take the rims off as those seem to be in OK / good condition and might be worth some money (as you might need all bits you can get to buy a new one)

[Mikeyc]

Re: OT: ALWAYS wear your seatbelt

Wow! That was one serious wreck. I'm glad to see you came out of it in better shape than the car. I think there are two very serious lessons here . . .

1. ALWAYS wear your seatbelt
2. NEVER drive drowsy

Driving while very sleepy is just as dangerous as driving drunk as you have found out. My former neighbor died on his way home from a concert one night because he fell asleep at the wheel. It happened in the middle of no where in AZ. They didn't even find his car for a couple of days. A very sad ending which I am glad to hear you did not share.

I also had another friend who fell asleep behind the wheel. Luckily for him he was in heavy traffic and was only going like 20 MPH. He ended up rear ending a flat bed truck. The front of his car was all crumpled but he was unhurt. Had he been going a lot faster the consequences probably would have been deadly.

[Zet]

Re: OT: ALWAYS wear your seatbelt

Glad to hear you are relatively ok!

While newer cars usually offer better protection, when driving a smaller car and hitting a truck, the weight difference will always play a major part on the outcome. Not to say that it's safer to drive a truck, since they usually have poorer handling and brakes..

[pcfxer]

Re: OT: ALWAYS wear your seatbelt

And trucks are higher so generally if a truck hit a car there is a greater amount of torque applie to the occupants in the vehicle. This is why newer SUVs have their front end crumple down so the tendency to nose down and tail up is much less.

Though, in this case, the crumple zone was maxed out and so obviously there was a ton of energy left over. Notin though, that this crumple zone is not like the one mentioned above.

STILL, I'M GLAD YOU ARE OKAY! There is nothing like having a friend or family member in a car accident!

[Don]

Re: OT: ALWAYS wear your seatbelt

And trucks are higher so generally if a truck hit a car there is a greater amount of torque applie to the occupants in the vehicle. This is why newer SUVs have their front end crumple down so the tendency to nose down and tail up is much less.

There were several factors playing against me in the crash: The fact that I was so heavy on the brakes (the tow company had to disconnect the battery because I had applied so much force to the brake pedal that the mechanism was damaged and the brake lights are now permanently on) the nose of my car was nearly scraping the ground on its own, combined with the fact that the truck I hit was a dualie, which are frequently taller in the rear end than most trucks. The weight of the truck, which gave it a greater tendency to remain at rest after being hit, causing my car to absorb more of the energy from the crash, then there's the fact that there was enough energy that didn't go into rearrainging sheet metal and body parts to lift the rear of my car completely off the ground AND spin the whole car 180.*

My wife believes that part of the reason I was so "fortunate" is because, to paraphrase the late Chris Farley, I had the: "Big guy in a little car" effect going for me. She said she's always believed the Cavalier was too small for me, but in this case it worked in my favor. Since I was 'packed into' the car so tightly, when the collision occured, there was no room for me to "bounce around" and run into the various parts of the interior, incurring greater injuries. UNfortunately, that same 'big guy' effect increased MY momentum, so when I was stopped by the belt/airbag it put greater stresses on my body.

Originally they gave me a script for Vicadin in the ER, but I soon discovered that even 1,000mg wouldn't tame the pain enough for me to get sleep. My personal Dr. after hearing the lack of effects from the Vacadin, and explaining that I could easily be facing 6 weeks of recovery due to the nature of rib/chest muscle injury, changed my script to 10 mg Oxycodone every 4-6hrs alternated w/800-1000mg ibuprofin, so now I'm getting pain meds, plus an anti-inflamatory every 3 hrs. That seems to take enough of the edge off that I'm able to sleep better and unless I do something, or move in a way that involves my upper chest muscles, I am relatively comfortable during the day, though I still don't dare cough, hiccup or blow my nose.

[supercharged]

Re: OT: ALWAYS wear your seatbelt

Very sorry to hear about an accident. We all wish you a speedy recovery. Remember to eat a lot of vitamins for faster recovery.
It reminds me, if you ever feel sleepy, open your windows (if it's not raining), and turn your music up.
Good luck.

[Dynamicd]

Re: OT: ALWAYS wear your seatbelt

A very UGLY accident,,,,,,but glad you walked away. I'm glad for your family too,,,,,,,kids need dads!

Best wishes
Mark

[Magic]

Re: OT: ALWAYS wear your seatbelt

changed my script to 10 mg Oxycodone every 4-6hrs.

Don,
Be very careful with these meds! They are one of the most strongest form of painkillers you can get. They actually can become addicting inside of 3 weeks, and are the most abused. Take em when you need them, and toss them when you don't..

I'm a (part time) drug counselor, and I see all walks off life addicted to this med. They come in as old as 80, and as young as 13..

[Don]

Re: OT: ALWAYS wear your seatbelt

Don,
Be very careful with these meds! They are one of the most strongest form of painkillers you can get. They actually can become addicting inside of 3 weeks, and are the most abused. Take em when you need them, and toss them when you don't..

I'm a (part time) drug counselor, and I see all walks off life addicted to this med. They come in as old as 80, and as young as 13..

No worries, in MY line of work, I see the results of abuse first hand and I have no intention of becoming an addict. My "drug of choice" for pain is ibuprofen and I really don't like having to use anything stronger. But I'm also a realist and I know that in cases like this, I would have to practically have to OD on ibuprofen to get relief from the pain and without proper pain management, recovery would be extended to an unacceptable length. The way things are progressing, I foresee myself being off the narcotics by Friday and only taking a few ibuprofen now and again.

Besides, I'm already going nuts being off work, and I can't go back until the oxycodone is out of my system.

[pcfxer]

Re: OT: ALWAYS wear your seatbelt

Very sorry to hear about an accident. We all wish you a speedy recovery. Remember to eat a lot of vitamins for faster recovery.
It reminds me, if you ever feel sleepy, open your windows (if it's not raining), and turn your music up.
Good luck.

Or, pull over and take a fifteen minute power nap. No more, no less. At least, that is what you are 'suppose' to do.