Rear - Ended

"We cannot lower our guard or relax our vigilance..." ~ Hui Liangyu

Ralph brought that '95 Cavalier to a smooth stop so he could wait out the oncoming traffic and complete a left turn into his subdivision.

His behind-the-wheel session was coming to an end. He was looking forward to getting out of the car and going to shoot some hoops in his driveway. I was looking forward to taking a break and going to teach the evening classroom.

Ralph had approached this turn with picture perfect precision. He had initiated his turn signal 200 feet in advance (as this was more of a rural area where one must signal earlier). He had kept the front tires centered and the car pointed straight up his lane while he waited for a decent gap in which to maneuver.

Then the sound of burning rubber. A very loud and prolonged SCREEEECH - during which I got out half a sentence:

"Who the h&## is... " BANG! CRUMPple!

A jolting impact from the rear jammed me back against my seat and propelled our vehicle forward nearly 50 yards.

"... burning rubber!" I finished.

"Well now I know!" I chuckled. At least I think I chuckled.

"What did I do wrong?" cried Ralph.

"Not a thing buddy. But the guy behind us screwed up real bad. You did real good Ralph. We'd be dead if you hadn't kept those front wheels pointing straight forward."

"Man, I think I'm going to puke!" moaned my student.

"Nah, you're OK. You've taken harder hits on the football field. Haven't you?"

"Yeah. Yeah, you're right! I have! Ha! Ha! Ha!"

Ralph was kind of shaky. Really couldn't blame him.

"Here, pull out your permit and dig through this packet to find the insurance cards and registration. Stay right here. I'm going to check on the car and our hard charging friend back there."

The Cavalier's trunk was crumpled in. We weren't going to get anything out of there for a while. Thank God the vehicle was still drivable.

The walk back to the Nissan pick-up that had nailed us seemed to take forever. It was like walking in a dream - underwater. I guess I was pretty shaky myself.

The front end of the pick-up was in pretty bad shape. Steam was rising from the hood. A puddle of green coolant had collected under the crushed radiator and was starting to trickle down to the curb.

"Look at what your student did to my truck!! He should never get a license," accused the chunky, Rosy O'Donnell-like senorita.

"What do you mean - 'What my student did'?"

"He jammed his brakes on RIGHT in front of me!! And he didn't even signal!"

I reckon she was practicing her lies on me so she'd sound real smooth when she had to explain things to the police.

I just shook my head and turned to walk back to the Cavalier.

"Where are you going?" she screeched.

"Back to my student and then to find a phone to call the cops. You can sell your crap to them. I don't argue with idiots."

About this time a nice looking lady emerges from one of the cars stuck in the jam behind the Nissan and catches up to me.

"Hi, here's my name and phone number. If you need a witness feel free to call. I've been following her for the last 10 miles and she's been driving like a fool the whole way."

"Gee, thanks!"

It's always nice to have someone in your corner.

Since there were no serious injuries I had Ralph drive onto the shoulder to help clear the road. Then I went to the nearest house and had them phone for police support.

When the police arrived 20 minutes later, Ralph and I had all of our documentation ready for inspection. The Nissan's driver had to rummage around for her license.

"Oh, where is that thing? Oh, I forgot the other officer took it when he gave me this ticket."

She had trouble finding her insurance card as well.

"Well this is my uncle's truck. He must have it."

"Mam, you won't be able to pay this citation by mail then. No insurance card means an automatic court appearance," explained Officer Nash.

After that I drove Ralph home and helped him fill out the accident report. We got all the info we needed from Officer Nash's notes.

Someone else taught the classroom that evening while I swapped cars back at headquarters to get ready for the next day of fun and high adventure.

Rosy O'Donnell's look-alike got stuck with the blame and the bill - as well she should have. But could Ralph and I have done anything to avoid that collision?

The answer of course is yes. There is always something each party involved could have done to have averted the crash.

Ralph and I were too focused on the stream of oncoming traffic and didn't pay enough attention to the rear. Since then whenever we're stopped waiting to take a left turn, my students and I devote more attention to our rear view mirrors than we did back in 1996. And, my student is ready to hit the gas if we see any vehicles barrelling down on us.