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Started My New Year With Bumps, Bruises, and Maybe Needing a New Car!

In summary, the speaker shares a story about losing control of their car on a gravel road while accompanied by their daughter and her friend. Thankfully, everyone was unharmed but the car was damaged. The speaker also mentions that in hindsight, they are grateful the car spun in a different direction as it could have ended up in a creek. They also give praise to God for keeping them safe and share a similar story about a tragic accident involving a teenager. The speaker expresses frustration with their boss for causing them to make a second trip to the office, and wonders if they can claim worker's comp for the accident. They end by thanking everyone for their well-wishes and asking for prayers as they deal with the aftermath.
pampchefsarah
Gold Member
2,203
This is not a rant, but I will start by saying I'm blaming the whole thing on my boss!!:D

I have been on vacation since the Monday before Christmas, but this does not change the fact that it's end of month and end of year (I'm in the finance department of our company), so there is still work to be done. Yesterday afternoon I made a second trip to the office (the first attempt was a waste of time, because my boss couldn't do the one very simple thing I had asked of him), to retrieve some documents so I can spend a few hours today, New Year's Day, working.

On the way home we (my 14 year old daughter and her friend were with me), were driving down a gravel road when I somehow lost control of the car (not entirely sure what happened, but my husband thinks, because of the type of gravel, my tires lost traction with the road and were only riding on the top of the gravel - which, of course, would have then been rolling around beneath the tires). The car swerved to the left, I turned the wheel to the right, and that is when I lost complete control! The car spun and flipped over. A very surreal, and disorienting, feeling to fine yourself hanging upside down in your car. I had the hardest time figuring out which way to turn the key to shut off the engine.

Everyone is fine, other than bumps, bruises, and some very minor cuts. One of these cuts was suffered by the Sherriff's Deputy when he went crawling through the car looking for my registration - which was never located. Since he couldn't tell exactly from where the blood was coming, he figured it must also be a small wound, so didn't charge me with assaulting an officer!:balloon:

Once everyone was out of the car, and we knew there were no serious injuries, the girls had fun with the whole thing, taking pictures of the car, of themselves, in the ambulance (where we were taken under the pretext of having our vitals taken, but I think it was really to get us in out of the freezing cold!).

I realized this morning that it must have been obvious I was not under the influence of anything, as the officer never asked me about drinking or drugs, nor did he perform a breathalyzer or other test. Praise God that, even though I didn't invoke His name during the whole experience, His righteousness still shone through.

Now, though, comes the real praise of the story. When the car veered to the left, it was towards an embankment, and had we flipped over that way, we would have ended up in a creek (I don't know how high the water is, but with the weather we've been having, there would have been some water, and it would have been icy). There definitely would have been real injuries then, so I'm sending up a prayer of thanks that God had the car spin in the other direction, instead. Also, that the vehicle which was coming from the other direction on this narrow road was completely spared.

Ahh, now to call and deal with the insurance company.

Do you think I can claim worker's comp, since, if I hadn't been forced to take this second trip to the office, none of this would have happened?:grumpy::p
 
Thank God everyone is OK. That is quite a story, and glad you did not go into the creek. Take it easy---in the days to come.
 
Glad you are okay
 
Oh my! Glad to hear you are all okay! Is your car totaled?
 
Oh my gosh, I can't believe it! I'm so thankful you and everyone is okay!

Gravel can be as bad as ice to drive on - of course I don't need to tell you that! We had a teenager about two years ago driving home from school w/her sister in the car down a gravel road. She did the same thing you did and her car rolled as well. She did not fair as lucky as you. She lost her life. Her sister was okay, but is now having to live w/the memories and pain of the entire thing.

Yes, praise the Lord it's only your car that was hurt!

Good luck dealing with the insurance - I don't think you'll get anywhere w/the worker's comp though:)! It just stinks!
 
Glad to hear that everyone is fine. I'll keep you in prayer as you deal with the insurance company and all of the fun stuff that comes with that.
 
pampchefsarah said:
This is not a rant, but I will start by saying I'm blaming the whole thing on my boss!!:D

I have been on vacation since the Monday before Christmas, but this does not change the fact that it's end of month and end of year (I'm in the finance department of our company), so there is still work to be done. Yesterday afternoon I made a second trip to the office (the first attempt was a waste of time, because my boss couldn't do the one very simple thing I had asked of him), to retrieve some documents so I can spend a few hours today, New Year's Day, working.

On the way home we (my 14 year old daughter and her friend were with me), were driving down a gravel road when I somehow lost control of the car (not entirely sure what happened, but my husband thinks, because of the type of gravel, my tires lost traction with the road and were only riding on the top of the gravel - which, of course, would have then been rolling around beneath the tires). The car swerved to the left, I turned the wheel to the right, and that is when I lost complete control! The car spun and flipped over. A very surreal, and disorienting, feeling to fine yourself hanging upside down in your car. I had the hardest time figuring out which way to turn the key to shut off the engine.

Everyone is fine, other than bumps, bruises, and some very minor cuts. One of these cuts was suffered by the Sherriff's Deputy when he went crawling through the car looking for my registration - which was never located. Since he couldn't tell exactly from where the blood was coming, he figured it must also be a small wound, so didn't charge me with assaulting an officer!:balloon:

Once everyone was out of the car, and we knew there were no serious injuries, the girls had fun with the whole thing, taking pictures of the car, of themselves, in the ambulance (where we were taken under the pretext of having our vitals taken, but I think it was really to get us in out of the freezing cold!).

I realized this morning that it must have been obvious I was not under the influence of anything, as the officer never asked me about drinking or drugs, nor did he perform a breathalyzer or other test. Praise God that, even though I didn't invoke His name during the whole experience, His righteousness still shone through.

Now, though, comes the real praise of the story. When the car veered to the left, it was towards an embankment, and had we flipped over that way, we would have ended up in a creek (I don't know how high the water is, but with the weather we've been having, there would have been some water, and it would have been icy). There definitely would have been real injuries then, so I'm sending up a prayer of thanks that God had the car spin in the other direction, instead. Also, that the vehicle which was coming from the other direction on this narrow road was completely spared.

Ahh, now to call and deal with the insurance company.

Do you think I can claim worker's comp, since, if I hadn't been forced to take this second trip to the office, none of this would have happened?:grumpy::p

I used to work w/ private insurance and workers comp and unfortunately, it has to be an "on the job" injury...if this accident had been on the grounds of your employer then it would be ok to claim..

I am SO SORRY that this happened to you, but thank god everything is ok...
 
I am so glad to hear everyone is okay.
 
Wow, I'm so glad you're all ok!! What a way to end the year/start the new year.
 
  • #10
I hate driving on gravel! I usually go about 25-30, DH hates when we have to drive on gravel.As far as not landing on the creek side, there was an accident around here last year where a kid died not because of the car accident but of drowning since he landed upside down in a creek. You are so lucky!
 
  • #11
Thank goodness no one was hurt. You'll be sore tomorrow. Epsoms salt bath (soaker) should help. Count your blessings.. good luck with the insurance co.
 
  • #12
I am so glad that you were all okay.
 
  • #13
I'm glad all of you are okay.
 
  • #14
I'm so glad you are ok. My best friend just lost her babysitter the Monday before Christmas in a roll over accident. She is very lucky her children did not have more than bumps and bruises, and you are very lucky as well.
 
  • #15
God sure protected you! My daughter had an accident when my grandson was about 6 months old. She was trying to change lanes on the interstate (at 65 MPH) when she realized a car was in her blind spot. She jerked the wheel back and lost control when she hit those "safety bumps" on the side of the road. Witnesses said she completely spun around two lanes of traffic and landed on the side of the road down a slight embankment. Josiah slept through the whole thing. Some of the witnesses, who were all Christians, were in a van from another state and stopped to check on them. One of the ladies was an RN. It looked as if God just picked up the car and sat it down. The front passenger door hit a tree and was dented in. Neither her or Josiah had a scratch on them. The officer was also a Christian. She was on her way home from coming to visit me at my office 80 miles away and was only 15 miles from me when the accident happened. I drove down there and when I saw the accident, I was very upset. The officer told me, "Ma'am, God protected them; they are fine." The tow truck drivers came and told us, "God sure put you in a good place and protected you." Only God kept them from being hit by other vehicles or rolling over. So glad He protected all of you as well. You could tell your Boss that if you hadn't returned the 2nd time to help him on your time off, you would not have had the accident and see if he'll give you some extra time off...
 
  • #16
I administer the workers' compensation plan for our company of 4000+ employees. Keep in mind that workers' compensation laws vary from state to state. In Texas, if you are on "company time" then it can be filed as a w/c claim. You do not have to physically be on company grounds. For example, if an employee is driving to meet a client and is involved in an accident, it is claimable.

You may want to do some research with your state's online w/c resources. Also, it never hurts to try and submit it as a w/c claim. If it is denied then end of story but you'll never know unless you try.

Glad to hear that you are all doing ok. Ü
 
  • Thread starter
  • #17
Hmm - I wrote a response yesterday, but somehow it didn't post.

Thank you to everyone for your well wishes and prayers. Yes, I am very grateful for God putting out His hand to keep the accident from getting worse. I wish I knew exactly what caused it, but for now I'm staying off gravel roads!!

I really was only (half) kidding about the workers' comp, but thank you ChefSteph and SummerG for your responses. Now I'm wondering - if the office closed early for the holiday, and I was officially on vacation, anyway, is it still considered 'on company time?' Probably doesn't matter, since there were no injuries requiring medical attention, but just curious.
 

1. What happened to cause the bumps and bruises?

The bumps and bruises were caused by a car accident on New Year's Day.

2. Was anyone seriously injured?

Fortunately, no one was seriously injured. We were all wearing seatbelts and the airbags deployed, minimizing the impact.

3. Do you need a new car now?

We are currently in the process of assessing the damage to our car and determining if it can be repaired or if we need to purchase a new one.

4. How has this affected your daily routine?

The accident has definitely disrupted our daily routine, as we now have to rely on public transportation and carpooling until our car situation is sorted out.

5. Are you taking any precautions to prevent future accidents?

Yes, we are planning on enrolling in defensive driving courses and being more cautious on the road to prevent any future accidents.

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