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July 5th, 2008
12:06 pm - Oh Lordy
This morning around 2:00 AM, while driving home with Mikie from an Independence Day gathering located only 10 blocks from our house, I collided with a 20 year old male bicyclist at the intersection of 24th and 124th. I was driving on 24th around 25 mph, when a sudden impact shattered the windshield of the Corolla, nearly obliterating completely into penetrating shards of glass. Mikie had no idea what was going on (he mentioned that he thought it was fireworks), but I knew instantly the we had hit someone.
I stopped the car as soon as I could react and ran outside to find a body lying across the pavement, with a small puddle of blood pooling near the head. My first thought was that the guy was dead, that the blood was coming from his cranium, that I was responsible. I didn't know what to do except stay at the scene and tell Mikie to call 911. Then I heard him sobbing, which made me both relieved and frightened. A car passing by stopped and a group of young adults emerged to see what was happening. Two girls came over to help the bicyclist, who was now sitting upright, and kept me calm with their encouraging words.
*Before I continue, I NEED to thank these girls with all my heart for being such upstanding and compassionate people. I don't know if I would have been in such a rational state of mind when the police arrived if it were not for them.*
By the time the police lights were visible and headed towards our direction, the guy had gotten up and walked over to sit on the curb. It turns out that he was only bleeding from his nose/mouth and he told us that only his wrist was in pain, but he was obviously in no position to give us an accurate report due to shock. Soon after the first officer arrived, a medical van and firemen followed. The paramedics checked up on both parties and proceeded to administer tests on the bicyclist.
After having some time to digest the events that had occurred, I was composed enough to analyze the scene and articulate what had happened from my perspective. After collecting statement, as well as Mikie's and the bicyclist's, and looking over the scene of the accident, this was the unofficial police summary:
1)The bicyclist was going down a very steep hill and he disregarded the stop sign that he was obligated to obey. This caused him to collide with our vehicle from the passenger side, and the impact tossed him up onto our windshield and then to the pavement.
2)The bicyclist did not have a front light visible from 500 feet on his bike, which is required by WA state law for nighttime riders.
3)To make matters worse, he was not wearing a helmet at the time (Required in King county for all ages) and was possibly intoxicated (under-aged drinking).
Basically, they said verbatim that the biker was at fault. I did not have any reasonable fault, as I did not violate any laws, did not flee the scene of the accident, and did not have any harmful intent or affordable knowledge of the collision prior to its occurrence.
It has been less than 24 hours later, but the health of the bicyclist has been confirmed as normal, which is a relief to hear. However, the aftermath of this experience has damaged me beyond belief. Apart from the physical impairments my car endured (see below),
I feel an unbelievable amount of emotional distress that has caused me to withdraw from my prior engagements this weekend and has distracted me from my studies. I have a midterm on Monday and one on Tuesday, so this just heightens my sense of stress, anger, and isolation.
Everyone keeps telling me that I have dealt with this situation in an ideal manner, but I feel so psychologically boggled. I think a major "flaw", for lack of a better word, in my personality is that I hate not having the power to control a situation. That is why I am so irked that I did nothing unreasonable to cause this mess, yet I have to deal with all of the consequences. Am I morally bankrupt to have little to no pity for this guy? Am I ridiculously naive to feel so violated for being thrown into a situation that was so unnecessary and uncontrollable on my part?
To make matters worse, I am going to have to file a suit against this guy in small claims court if the insurance company cannot file an uninsured property claim for me. I wish this was all a bad dream, but it happened and now I am trying my best to address the situation. I don't know what is going to become of all of this... I just don't know.
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April 23rd, 2008
09:49 pm - I'm convinced....
Cindy Tran has never taken a bad picture in her life.
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March 28th, 2008
08:21 am - What do 29 year old men like to do for fun?
What do 29 year old men like to do for fun?
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March 16th, 2008
12:45 pm - 1/5 life crisis
For the first time in my life, I am having fun doing things that would be considered to be conventional 20-something-year-old activities. Until very recently, I had been perfectly content with being a homebody and doing nothing but going to school and engaging in matronly activities. Anyhow, my sudden and relatively drastic change in interests is creeping me out.
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