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03/14/2006 01:35:19 AM · #1 |
What a day!
First off let me start by saying that Iâm usually not one to get on a soap box, but after today I just felt compelled to post my familyâs happenings of the last 16 or so hours. I hope that this story helps anyone that chooses to ready it and makes us all a little more aware of what can happen in a split second.
Second itâs late so please forgive the spelling or grammatical errors that may crop up.
This morning my wife, Cammie (daizy here in DPC) got up just like every other day and got ready for work. I get up and help our 2 ½ year old Logan get ready as he accompanies his mother on her way to work and is dropped off at daycare. This is all done very early around 6:30 AM every week day.
At 6:40 I got a call from my wife that I hope I never get again as long as I live. As I answered the phone all I heard was her frantic voice, crying telling me that there had been and accident. She and Logan had rolled our Toyota 4 runner.
My heart sank. I asked if she and the little one were okay. She replied âyes.â That was a little relief but then my mind started racing. I thought she could be in shock, she might not really understand the extent of her injuries. My heart sank even further.
As a person that has been involved in my fair share of motorcycle accidents I know how easy it is to think you are okay while the adrenalin is kicking in. I asked her if she had called 911 but she told me she hadnât, she called me first. I told her that I was going to hang up and call 911 and that she needed to do the same as well.
I grabbed our seven year old and jumped in the truck and headed off to the location that my wife and son were. I ended up following some of the emergency vehicles to the accident scene.
As I pulled up I immediately understood what had happened. As Cammie was driving down the road to Loganâs daycare she hit and enormous patch of black ice. I could barley stop my truck going 10 mph. Cammie had hit this in the apex of her turn, lost control, spun off the road and into a personâs front yard. Upon hitting the soft dirt off the shoulder of the road her truck started to roll. The police best guess was that she made one full roll then ended up being stopped by a large tree in the front yard.
The best description I can give you is that the passenger side of the truck was approx. 3 -4 feet off the ground, suspended by the tree. This is the same side of the truck that my 2 year old occupies. I ran to the paramedic truck and flew the doors open to see my crying wife and my bright eyed Logan call my name, DADDY!
Needless to say I was overjoyed to hear from the paramedics that they were both just fine! Just a little shook up. After a long process of getting everyone checked out and loaded up and back home, then off to our primary care physicians for a second checkup just to make sure everyone was a-okay. We are all home, safe and sound.
   
My reason for this long story is this, if Cammie hadnât been wearing her seat belt and Logan not in his car seat, they wouldnât be home safe asleep right now. From the emergency crewâs estimate they would be hospitalized or even worse.
Please everyone WEAR YOUR SEAT BELTS and USE A GOOD CAR SEAT for your little ones. I know the attached pictures might not look that bad, they were taken after our truck was towed to the auto body shop. When I can download the pictures off of my mobile phone Iâll post some of the shots from the scene, Iâve never been so scared in my entire life.
I stand by my love for Toyota 4runners and trucks. I really believe they are quality built vehicles.
Also; if there is anyone that is looking for a good car seat or has a new addition to their family on the way, I canât tell you how much I stand by this car seat.
Britax Car Seats
They may be expensive but they work, my son is home tonight because of this awesome restraint system, and our insurance is paying for a replacement one.
Thanks for listening,
Steve Arnoldus
a.k.a. NaldSLC
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03/14/2006 01:39:55 AM · #2 |
| I'm glad that your family is alright. A bit nerved I suppose but thank goodness everything is fine. |
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03/14/2006 01:43:33 AM · #3 |
Originally posted by Rikki:
I'm glad that your family is alright. A bit nerved I suppose but thank goodness everything is fine. |
Thanks Rikki, somehow I knew you'd be one of the first to reply. ;-)
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03/14/2006 01:44:29 AM · #4 |
So very happy to hear that everyone is alright! Thank goodness they were using all the safety equipment. We see a lot of people come into our ER who aren't so lucky.
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03/14/2006 01:46:10 AM · #5 |
| Oh wow, so good to hear things ended up okay. Was there any whiplash? |
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03/14/2006 01:48:32 AM · #6 |
Originally posted by ShutterPug:
So very happy to hear that everyone is alright! Thank goodness they were using all the safety equipment. We see a lot of people come into our ER who aren't so lucky. |
Thank you Linda,
I'll tell you what, that's the best three hundred dollars I've ever spent, on anything. And I'm going to do it again. That car seat is AMAZING. Logan does not have a single scratch on him! Cammie has some pretty gnarly bruising on her shoulder and chest where the seat belt was but other than that they are both in amazing shape.
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03/14/2006 01:49:53 AM · #7 |
Originally posted by klstover:
Oh wow, so good to hear things ended up okay. Was there any whiplash? |
Nope both checked out A-Okay. :-)
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03/14/2006 01:52:22 AM · #8 |
have you considered picking up a set of snow tires for the winter season? I don't know how much snow you guys get, but a set of studs can make all the difference. Could have avoided the accident in the first place.
Ok, you can't change the past, but might be something worth putting on the wish-list. Once you get them, you can have tires switched at a fair garage for under 50 bucks. Would be worth a little space in the garage (or outside, covered to prevent premature deterioration of the rubber).
I used to live in Victoria, Canada, and we didn't get a lot of snow, so when it did happen every few years or so, people were all over the roads. I saw more than a few jeeps and land rovers rolled over on the hills because they assumed their 4WD would be sufficient as they climbed twisty hill roads with all-season radials...
Be careful! Glad things worked out OK for ya.
An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure... |
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03/14/2006 01:56:03 AM · #9 |
Originally posted by eschelar:
have you considered picking up a set of snow tires for the winter season? I don't know how much snow you guys get, but a set of studs can make all the difference. Could have avoided the accident in the first place.
Ok, you can't change the past, but might be something worth putting on the wish-list. Once you get them, you can have tires switched at a fair garage for under 50 bucks. Would be worth a little space in the garage (or outside, covered to prevent premature deterioration of the rubber).
I used to live in Victoria, Canada, and we didn't get a lot of snow, so when it did happen every few years or so, people were all over the roads. I saw more than a few jeeps and land rovers rolled over on the hills because they assumed their 4WD would be sufficient as they climbed twisty hill roads with all-season radials...
Be careful! Glad things worked out OK for ya.
An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure... |
Great advice, I can guarantee that the new truck will have a set of studs on her for next winter. Do you know if they make those in 6 inch spikes? :-)
Message edited by author 2006-03-14 01:57:00.
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03/14/2006 01:59:19 AM · #10 |
Check to make sure you can have studs. Here in Michigan we get tons of snow, but studs and chains have been illegal for years now. Just plain old rubber snow tires here
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03/14/2006 01:59:45 AM · #11 |
OMG! Thank God for seatbelts and car seats. Am so happy this story ended on the upside, instead of the worse case scenario.
You sre one blessed man considring the day you've had.
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03/14/2006 02:01:38 AM · #12 |
Note : Recommend you buy a new car seat.
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03/14/2006 02:03:57 AM · #13 |
Originally posted by fotomann_forever:
OMG! Thank God for seatbelts and car seats. Am so happy this story ended on the upside, instead of the worse case scenario.
You sre one blessed man considring the day you've had. |
10-4 to that! I've been thanking the big man upstairs all day!
Originally posted by ShutterPug:
Check to make sure you can have studs. Here in Michigan we get tons of snow, but studs and chains have been illegal for years now. Just plain old rubber snow tires here |
Pretty sure they are okay here, we usually don't get too much snow down in the valley anymore. Not like 10-15 years ago anyway. I'll do some checking, hell I might just fabricate me some of my own if I can't buy any! ;-) j/k!
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03/14/2006 02:07:28 AM · #14 |
Originally posted by naldslc:
Pretty sure they are okay here, we usually don't get too much snow down in the valley anymore. Not like 10-15 years ago anyway. I'll do some checking, hell I might just fabricate me some of my own if I can't buy any! ;-) j/k! |
If this happened to me, I'd never let anyone out of my site without Race proven Simpson Safety Gear LOL...
Good thing we can laugh now :-)
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03/14/2006 02:07:45 AM · #15 |
Originally posted by faidoi:
Note : Recommend you buy a new car seat. |
TOTALLY! Car seats are like motorcycle helmets in my book. Use it once get a new one. No since in taking additional risks, thanks for the link though VERY good info.
The first 300 bucks saved my little ones life. There's nothing holding me back on a new one. Insurance has already told us they will pay to replace the one that was in the accident. Tomorrow we'll have a new car seat before a new car.
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03/14/2006 02:10:58 AM · #16 |
Originally posted by fotomann_forever:
Originally posted by naldslc:
Pretty sure they are okay here, we usually don't get too much snow down in the valley anymore. Not like 10-15 years ago anyway. I'll do some checking, hell I might just fabricate me some of my own if I can't buy any! ;-) j/k! |
If this happened to me, I'd never let anyone out of my site without Race proven Simpson Safety Gear LOL...
Good thing we can laugh now :-) |
You know, I did think about that today while we were all driving around back and forth from the doctor's office. ;-) It is a very good thing that we can laugh about it now!
Well guys I'm off to bed, I'm sure you can guess, it's been a long day! Thanks for the kind words and thoughts. I'll check back with you all in the AM!
G-Night!
Message edited by author 2006-03-14 02:13:48.
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03/14/2006 02:18:42 AM · #17 |
Nite guy, sleep well, you deserve it. Here's to a better tommorrow :-)
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03/14/2006 04:01:52 AM · #18 |
| Wowsers!!! So glad to hear the happy ending to the story. Pain in the butt about the vehicle, but it definitely sounds like you got your priorities right, your wife and little one's welfare are what's important, you can deal with the car! They'll probably be a little sore tommorrow, but...they will get over that :-) Just thank goodness they are a-ok :-) |
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03/14/2006 04:37:52 AM · #19 |
| The prefecture I live in here has one of the worst records for vehicle accident fatalities in Japan. I "read" an article in the newspaper the other day. In last year's total, from what I gather, around 80% of deaths were due to not wearing seatbelts. |
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03/14/2006 06:22:42 AM · #20 |
| I felt so emotional reading that. I've been in my fare share of accidents (1 on a motorcycle), came away fine every time, and never made a big deal out of it. But to get a call that my loved ones were in an accident would be unimaginable. I'm glad your family were safe and sound. |
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03/14/2006 06:27:52 AM · #21 |
Amen to seat belts. Very glad your family is okay!
PS - been there, done that (in a GEO Tracker, which was totaled), alive today to agree with you about seatbelts. |
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03/14/2006 06:50:02 AM · #22 |
SO glad both Cammie and Logan are OK! I agree with you about using seat belts and car seats - it's illegal here in the UK not to use them but some stupid people still fail to use belts in both the front and back seats and have children on their laps! There is new legislation coming in to make it illegal for children under the age of 11 or of a certain height not to be in special car seats.
BTW John (p2jvr) drives a school bus down some pretty small country roads and he refused to drive this morning due to the fact there were four cars in ditches on his way to pick up the bus this morning due to overnight snow and ice. More snow due today.
Again, glad this had a happy ending. I know how you feel as I had a similar phone call when John wrote off our car with Matthew as a passenger. It's something I will never forget!
P
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03/14/2006 07:13:21 AM · #23 |
Steve....give Cammie and Logan a big hug for me too will you. So glad they are both ok.
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03/14/2006 09:21:41 AM · #24 |
In victoria where I grew up I belive the current legislation is that studded tires are illegal in the summer (possibly the two other seasons too), but while there is a risk of snow (based on past patterns), they are A-OK. We only got snow once every 2-3 years, and usually quite light, but once you got 20 minutes out of inner city limits, snow becomes an annual thing and it's not uncommon to see 6 inches or more.
Victoria had more of a problem with black ice than snow, and to be honest, it's far more dangerous. I rode my bike around through the winter and when there's snow, riding is fun. You can do jumps and stuff without worrying. Change that to black ice and you have to really pay attention just doing A to B stuff. Although I never saw the need, there were guys who kept a set of studded bike tires. They are easy to make. Just get a bunch of screws and put 'em through the tire facing outward. You can either use a tubeless kit or some tire sealant to prevent flats. Most people who do that usually put a liner of some sort to protect the tube from the screws (Duct tape - one coat or two - works well). I wouldn't vouch for that on a car though...
I don't know what's wrong with Michigan city officials that they would restrict the use of safety equipment during winter... Rubber just doesn't cut it on ice. |
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03/14/2006 09:36:05 AM · #25 |
sorry to hear this about your family but it had a happy ending...wow I am so happy hear that they are ok.. your heart had to melt when your young one yelled out daddy, when you saw him
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