I was first rear-ended when I was 16. I was driving my old VW Bug in the grocery store parking lot when the girl behind me, also 16, ran into me. A 1969 Bug has a very simple metal bumper and the impact shmooshed it pretty good. I couldn't open the back to check the engine oil. My dad hooked a chain onto the bug and onto his Ford Econoline van. He only had to drive the van a few inches to pull the bumper away from trunk.
Fast forward 25 years and I am driving home from my job at Bradley University in a fall dusk. One of those huge lurking pickups is sitting behind me at the stoplight. The dude behind the wheel lets his foot slide off of the brake pedal and the truck lurches forward, striking the back of my VW Golf.
I called the police and, as luck would have it, the truck driver was cited for driving without insurance. Not a good sign.
The next morning I woke up with my neck and shoulders in extreme pain. I went to an orthopedic doctor and he diagnosed me with a herniated disk and other cervical spine issues. Eventually the pain in my neck and left arm got so bad that I sought a surgical remedy at Rush Hospital in Chicago. The recovery process was horrible, and I ended up having to quit my job at Bradley. Stupidly, I was in such pain that I didn't have the presence of mind to claim disability (my years of staring at a computer screen certainly contributed to my problems).
Last Wednesday Andy was rear-ended in our brand new Subaru Outback. It has 5,000 miles on the odometer. My question is whether a body shop is equipped to evaluate the AWD system and the rear-view camera. Not sure.
This accident shook Andy up pretty bad. He was disoriented, confused, and experienced some amnesia of recent events.
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