I just realized that just two short years ago today, the following occurred:

http://www.markblair.net/accident/caraccident.htm

I've been told by so many people that I should try to move on and not think about this but for whatever reason, I find more comfort in talking about it. The above link is dated for one year ago. That is the last time I updated that page. I see no reason to modify it in the future as I'm sure it says all that needs to be said.

Sorry to bring up such a depressing topic (at least for anyone involved in something like this) but I look at this as a way to show I survived something that nobody should have.

It would have been more dep0ressing if you weren't here to tell/post the story, eh? :angel:

That's about how I feel about it. Not only would I have missed out on posting this here but my wife was pregnant at the time and we hadn't found out yet. It wasn't until after this accident that we found out that we were going to be parents. If I had died, my now 16-month old daughter would have grown up without ever knowing her father. Now that is more sad than the accident, I think.

Mark, unbelievable that you got out of that mess. Glad you're still around to "talk" with us.

My Mother and Father were each in separate serious accidents. Took some time but thank God they were fine. My brother was in two serious accidents and came out OK. The last one was a drunken woman driver who almost killed my brother. It was tough but he came through it OK.

Don't people understand that a car (as well as other vehicles) is not a toy. Hey people take car on the road.

I was in the hospital august of 2000 for an accident that wasn't my fault.

I was driving home, same way I did every day for the past 6 months while doing contract work about six miles from my house. I was going 45MPH, the speed limit. Some lady at a cross street, didn't stop at the stop sign, and crossed the street, running right into the side of the car. I didn't see her until right before she ran into my door. I can't believe that she didn't see me, or the stop sign. I was driving a white car!

When I regained consciousness, I was being put in the ambulance. I never even met the girl driving the SUV that ran into me. I understand that she wasn't injured, and was ticketed.

She didn't pay for the ticket and I was never even able to collect any money from her or her insurance agency because I wasn't permanently injured. Not even the $500 for the Michigan mini-tort law. She had disappeared back to London, where she was from.

Can you believe that you can't collect for pain and suffering unless you're permanently injured? What was that, if it wasn't pain and suffering? A couple of years ago, Michigan passed a law, obviously under pressure from the insurance companies, that unless you are permanently injured, you will not be compensated.

Guess who paid my medical bills? My car insurance company. Even though it wasn't my fault, and I was driving someone else's car.

Ruined my month. I was unable to work for awhile. I was driving my housemate's car, because mine was in the shop. He didn't have collision coverage, so the insurance didn't pay to fix it. I had to buy him another car, when it wasn't even my fault.

Michigan's insurance laws are messed up.

And yes, I remember it often. It's normal to reflect on this crap. :)

I'm glad you're okay, too, mark.

I absolutely HATE car accidents... doesn't matter if its a small bump or a big accident as shown in the pictures at the link.

hmm, there's gotta be a way to make driving cars safer then it is now :o

forgot to say what i originally wanted to say... hehe
im glad both of you marks are here ;) drive safe everyone!

I hear that re: not your fault and still paying, my poor Dodge Neon was nailed by a bus about 2 years ago on the driver's side, spun me back around and hit me again in the back side, crushed the car, scratched the bumper of the bus, but even though it wasnt my fault, because of the property we were on, it was ruled no fault and I had to pay for it, and I still do everyday on my car insurance.

bitserve, you are correct in that Michigan insurance laws are outrageous. Not long after my auto accident I was in the hospital for problems caused by the accident. The doctor that saw me was supposed to be the best in the state. Apparently he forgot to take a few courses because instead of giving me 160mg of medicine I was given more than 1600mg. The difference? Oh' basically I was unresponsive from a Tuesday night when I was given the medicine until Friday morning of the same week. I made sure to obtain all documentation from the hospital about what was done and how much medicine I was given and when I took it to a lawyer, I was promptly told that since he didn't cause any harm and I didn't have enough monetary damages by lost wages, I couldn't do a single thing. Forget about the fact that for that week, my family thought I was in a coma. He also could have caused major damage to my liver but all tests proved otherwise. Yet he is still allowed to practice medicine and could possibly do this again. In Michigan, if you don't die, you get nothing.

As for everyone that has replied, thank you. I appreciate the thoughts regarding this incident. It is nice to be able to share something that is non-technical and receive the kind words I have. Again, thank you.

well done and very glad to see you here. when i was 12 my best friend lost both parents in a car crash which devastated him. very glad to see you about and living a good life. well done and long may it last. best wishes

I know personally what its like to be in a accident in Michigan -- under Michigan's "no fault" laws...

As some of you know, I'm originally from Michigan, and moved to Florida from MI this past June.

In January 2000, I was in an accident with my husband, nothing serious... (but I was 7 months pregnant at the time) But it was enough. A Emergancy Care van (MMR care van) didn't yield the right away (mind you this isn't a true emergancy vehicle -- they transfer elderly to their Dr. appts.), and hit us side on.

At the time, we had the very basic "no fault" insurance -- the state minimum. And in a couple months, we were going to get full coverage on the car. We had a fully restored '73 Chevy Caprice.

The driver, got ticketed, and probaby is no longer working for the MMR company. We tried to get quotes to get the thing fixed (as requested by the insurance company). But the car being old and considered a classic -- no dealerships or mechanics, and anything in their books for prices, etc. So we were unable to get bare minimum of $500. And because of the accident, I had my son 2 weeks later (I had a normal, uneventful pregnancy before that) at a month and a half early. a month after I had my son, our car completely died on us - because of the accident. There went a car that had $8000+ put into it for restoration... :angry:

Michigan is crap as far as insurance is concerned. But Florida isn't really any better, unfortunately.

*sigh*

Tonya

(btw, I know what its like to lose someone from a car accident. Just a little over a year ago, my husband's Uncle (just turned 40), was in a car accident. He hit a patch of black ice, and his car ran off the road and his a culvert, and was ejected from the car to the middle of the road. Someone stopped to try and help, and not even 2 minutes of the accident, a 17 year old kid driving drunk at 2am, totally didn't yield for the accident or the ppl that were trying to flag him to stop -- ran him over (yup, that's right, ran my husband's uncle right over with is car). He would've lived if the stupid @$$ kid wouldn't have ran him over. He died 20 minutes after he got to the hospital. And the 17 year old, hasn't been charged with vehicular manslaughter yet -- even though he rightly deserves it. Talk about a messed up "system". :angry:

That is aweful, rockergrrl, about your husband's uncle. I'm sorry to hear of the tragic accident that took your husband's uncles life. People nowadays are too much in a hurry to take the extra few seconds needed to watch what they are doing. The accident I first wrote about which I was involved in was mostly my fault. I did end up hitting the truck which is why I was ticketed. However, the truck driver stopped on a major road for no reason. I was told he was ticketed as well but I am not so sure.

I remember while vacationing in Florida last July I was watching CourtTV and they did this story about four teens that were killed by a drunk driver (http://www.preciousgemsmemorial.com/). The drunk driver survived with minor injuries. I was so upset with watching this that I had to turn the TV off. I later looked up the case on the Internet because I wanted to find out the verdict. Most of the time I am used to seeing people get off with a very light sentence. The person that killed those four teens got a minimun of 60 years in prison. It still doesn't fix anything because there are four families without their loved ones.

You guys should have seen what happend to my baby's moma's uncle's cousin's baby's sister's daughter momm'ys daddy a few years back. :bawling:

Gonelive...... is your post supposto to be insulting or are you just an idiot?

How is that insulting that comes out to be my dad who was in A car crash a few ears ago, and they had to cut off his legs.

Then you should have said so, rather than trying to be cute and funny about something that is not funny at all.

Sad stuff, I'm glad that you guys are ok. I personally think being able to get a drivers liscense should be a lot harder.

on a side note, when did 12 year olds start to have baby's momas?