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- 113
- Location
- Laramie County, Wyoming
While driving home from work one day several years ago, I got into some heavy traffic. I was approaching a lighted intersection and realized the people in front of me weren't driving smart. They were approaching the intersection at speed but when the light turned yellow, they sped up. This led to much slamming on the brakes. I was the 10th or so vehicle back from the intersection in my 2003 Chevy one ton dually. I had kept my distance from the person in front of me and started slowing down for the upcoming light change. I had to stop a little short because I would have stopped in the middle of an intersection. I got stopped but the kid behind me was way too close. I watched him drive up under the back of my truck. His engine stopped him from going all the way under, my hitch took a ding and the bumper was messed up but nothing critical. Once things quieted down, I jumped from the truck and ran back to see the results. He hit my hitch, which peeled back his hood and set off the airbags. When the hitch hit the engine it forced the car backwards out from under me. The kid was pretty groggy so I told him to stay in the car. I reached in and turned off the keys and tossed them up on the dash board. When I saw he wasn't going to expire, I told him to stay put. My truck had been pushed into the intersection blocking traffic and I had to move it for the emergency vehicles. Once done, I ran back to the kid, who had his cellphone firmly in his grip, and told him to call his parents. I directed traffic until emergency vehicles arrived and gave my statement to the police. The ambulance was there and they wanted me to talk to the medics. I turned down treatment because I felt fine. I ended up going to the VA ER a couple hours later for severe back pain. But what really sucked was what happened to the kid. He was wearing braces on his teeth, the metal wired mouth manglers. When the airbag went off, it looked like his mouth took the full brunt of the bag.
