The first day back to the regular work-out, and I couldn’t even get to Planet Fitness without a problem. A car accident in this case.
Here’s the dash-cam video in slow-motion.
It was about 10 am, and I was getting off of I-480 W, on to Great Northern Boulevard. The off-ramp is two lanes, both going North. I was in the outside lane, with nobody in the inner lane. The couple of cars in front of me, turned right-on-red. Not being crazy, I stopped at the red light, waiting for a chance to turn.
A guy driving a Ford Fusion came up behind me in the inner lane driving maybe 30 mph. The light was still red, but he didn’t intend to stop. When he was about even with my truck, he saw the car going North on Great Northern Boulevard. He cut in front of my truck, just brushing the front bumper, and hitting the Pontiac Vibe.
After the collision, my brain is ready to see what I’m going to do. The Fusion turned right on Country Club Boulevard. I’m pretty sure that if the Vibe had gone straight, I would not have pursued the Fusion. Damage on my truck was probably quite minor. Since the Vibe followed the Fusion, I did to.
Since Fusion driver was so reckless, I expected we’d be on a merry chase. I hoped to get close enough to capture the license plate on my dash-cam. Instead, the Fusion turned into the Chili’s parking lot.
When I pulled in, the Fusion driver was out of his car, talking to the Vibe driver. The Fusion driver was a youngish Black fella, with the Vibe driver being an old White lady. The guy was accommodating, but not forthcoming. He was cordial, but wouldn’t produce his license or give his name. The lady was, I don’t know, 75 years old or so. She got out of her car, and was doing the normal stuff. Asking for information, but not getting anywhere. She wasn’t sure what to do.
Checking my truck, the left side of the bumper was scuffed, and a trim piece under the headlight was loose. The trim popped back in. I told the guy that my truck was fine, so no issues from me. At that point, this wasn’t my problem, but I couldn’t leave the old lady there.
I asked the lady if she had a cellphone, and suggested that she take some pictures of the damage. I told them that I had to call my brother to say that I’d be late to the gym, but surreptitiously called the North Olmsted Police Department. I also took a photo of the guy and his license plate. Just in case it got exciting.
The guy remained cordial, but started with the sob story. He didn’t have a home address because he lived in his car, and worked three jobs to earn money to support his two kids. He didn’t have insurance, so if the police come, then his life is ruined, and so on.
At this point, my objective was to string things along until a cop showed up. Being right next to Great Northern Mall, I hoped it wouldn’t be long. The guy’s driving was dangerously reckless, and his unwillingness to provide any information, convinced me that the police should be involved.
The guy suggested the lady could say her car was hit, but she didn’t know who did it. To stall, I told the guy that would be the worst thing. That would be “fleeing the scene of an accident, and would be criminal”. Right now, it’s just a civil matter. I told him how to get passed the no insurance issue. I was just making shit up to make it not seem so bad. The guy never got harsh, or belligerent, so it would be great if it stayed like that.
The old lady was holding it all together really well. She was very sympathetic to his plight, but being an old lady, she had a plight of her own. Her insurance company would need a police report, and she was a widow, and she just wasn’t sure what to do. She thought she should probably call the police, and that worried the guy, so he started pleading more. I had her find me a pen, so I could leave my phone number, and told her that I had dash-cam video. That kept her distracted for a little bit.
Then the cop arrived. I told her that I’d called them, and wished her well.