Bitter was in an accident on the way home from dropping me off at work (I left my car there for the weekend. Long story). She’s fine, but this will be the second tailgate we’ve replaced on this vehicle:
Unfortunately, my coworkers and I have to give a very important, potentially company saving presentation today, and so I can’t exactly just go home. But I plan to as soon as it’s all over so we can get the car into a shop and get the repair process started. I guess we’re also going to need to rent a car too.
BTW, what a strange world we live in when I can get a live pictorial update from the accident scene. Apparently someone switched lanes without checking, causing Bitter to slam on her brakes to avoid hitting him, and in the process a truck hit her from behind. Truck is at fault for following too closely, but the cop said the trucks insurance will probably blame the guy who switched lanes without checking. I don’t care who’s to blame as long as someone else pays for the damage.
UPDATE: I have taped up the window, and stuffed as much plastic material into the area around the broken door seal as I could. Hopefully it’ll keep the majority of the water out of the interior if it rains. Seems she was hit by a fish truck, which is kind of ironic since she was on her way to stock up on fish for our freezer. I should call the fish company and tell them I won’t sue if they send me some.
Hope everyone is ok. And fie on the lane-changer
What a pain. I’m glad Bitter is alright.
Also you might want to black out the license plate from the picture
Just did that… thanks. Though, what can you get from a license plate? Is there some kind of lookup you can do without being a cop?
Don’t know. In this day and age, I assume government records that aren’t specifically sealed are available to a determined stacker. At any rate, it is an information leak to someone who sees the car on the road.
I’m pissed off that I lost my very hard to find campaign sticker for our state rep when the windshield blew out.
Yeah, the officer said that the lane changer is going to be found at fault, too. When the truck driver finally calmed down (it was his first accident, so he was yelling, but not at me), I finally got the lane changer to admit that he didn’t look because he didn’t think it was even a lane to his right. The officer & truck driver were actually somewhat impressed by my ability to maneuver so quickly to avoid the lane changer since the front of my car was actually next to the back of the lane changer’s van.
I think what pisses me off about the lane changer isn’t just that he wasn’t paying attention when he made the right turn (without a signal) from the middle lane, but that he admitted he wasn’t even paying attention to the screeching brakes (me) or the shattering glass/accident sounds that happened within feet of him.
You can look up licence plate info for a fee at publicdata.com. This was free a few years ago (at least in Texas), but rumor is someone was stalked and harmed ( I can’t recall the details). Texas passed a law regarding the data, the company moved offshore and continues to offer the service. The data was pretty complete, with a Lic plate you could get the address where the vehicle was registered, then the Drivers License info of everyone at that address.
Sebastian,
Whether there is a lookup or not that a non-cop could do on Bitter’s license plate, blocking it out on the photo is still a good idea, in case somebody were to copy it down for his or her own purposes. I’m sure that you would not like it if Bitter’s license plate number were posted online somewhere else by some left-winger/hoplophobe-extremist-type. Tactics like those were perpetrated by some left-wing hatemongers to Michelle Malkin just a few years ago just for daring to opine and editorialize about illegal immigration issues.
Condition white. Heading down I-295 once I had to basically hit the median in the Taurus once; the guy behind me managed to plow into the collision I dodged despite me clearing the lane! Note, by the way, that I ditched not to avoid hitting the guy in front, but to avoid getting hit by the guy in back. Despite braking on dirt, I stopped short of the inevitable collision. Which means that guy behind me was not only going to close and fast for following me, he was tailgating the guy in front of me…
Glad to hear that “Bitter” is OK. That is the important thing. Tailgates can be replaced.
Not only Bitter, though my good wishes go to her first :), but to the other participants.
Everyone is making too much of the license picture.
I’m not sure why you might value anonymity here, but you both outed yourselves when you announced that you were NRA EVC’s.
Anyway, glad Bitter did not seem to be hurt, though soft tissue damage can show up days later.
I’m just noting it as a “best practice” in info sec. Don’t leak info you don’t mean to
The insurance that pays for the damage also has to pay for the rental vehicle while yours is in the shop.
I don’t know why people worry about pictures of their license plates…and then drive all over with it fully exposed. What’s the difference?
Bitter, I am pleased you are OK!
@mrjam2jab: when you display your plate on the road, there is no other information exposed than what is visib. When you show a picture of your car with the plate showing, you leak the information that this is your car. Usually this is harmless information, but not always. Context matters.
By law, the truck needed to leave enough room to be able to stop faster than you. In practice, if he does and there’s any traffic, people will keep getting between him and the car in front of him until he’s under the minimum legal speed on the highway, if not stopped completely. (Not that you were saying otherwise).
Sorry to hear about the accident and happy everyone is ok.