most of you know the story of what happened, but i'm going to tell it to those who don't! i was on my way to work on friday, june 12th just before noon. i hadn't gone very far when i came up to the intersection of 132nd and fort. i was southbound on 132nd and i wanted to make a left hand turn onto fort st. the light was green so i got into the turning lane and entered the intersection to wait for traffic to come through that was heading northbound on 132nd. while waiting in the intersection the light turned yellow and then red. there was one car that blatantly blew through the red light heading northbound that i waited for. assuming that this was the last idiot that would run the red light, i started to make my left hand turn to get out of the intersection. i was partially blinded by what i seem to remember as a van directly across from me in the turning lane that was waiting like it should be bc the light was now red. anyways so i started to turn left and almost immediately saw this black car barreling down on me. i knew it was too late to do anything so i braced myself for the collision. i know this is going to sound dramatic, but i remember actually thinking that i was going to die or get very seriously hurt. the black car, which was a late 90s model lumina, luckily saw me and swerved slightly to the right. since i stopped right away and she swerved oh so slightly, she drilled the front right corner of the malibu in front of the right tire. the force of the impact spun me around back to the north and into the "ditch" that was along side the northbound lanes of 132nd street. both airbags had blown, and the car had died. there was smoke inside the car from the airbags, and coming from the hood. i didn't have any brakes so i couldn't stop my momentum while rolling down the hill. i finally rolled past a tree and was able to turn up an embankment to stop the car. while rolling down the hill i was able to check myself over and didn't feel any serious pain anywhere. after stopping, i tried to get out of the car, but the door wouldn't open all the way. i squeezed out and looked back up the hill. there was already a man running down the hill towards me. it was a man named beau. he asked if i was alright and called 911. i waited down by my car until the cops came. i also called sarah and she left summer school. when the cop came he stopped up by the intersection where the other car had stopped. i went up the hill, and the first thing the cop said was where's the other car? i told him it was down the hill and he then asked what happened. the lady who was driving the other car tried to say that the light was green when she came through the intersection and that i turned in front of her. i said the light was red of course. the cop eventually called the witness, beau, that had called 911 and asked him what happened. he verified my story, and so she was issued a citation for running a red light, and i wasn't given anything. next began the insurance process. the info given by the driver of the other car was incorrect! luckily the wrong insurance company was able to track down, the correct insurance company and we filed a claim with them. the following monday i talked to my insurance and hers to make my statement. my insurance company found me at no fault, and then would not be paying anything to the other driver. i only had liability, so my insurance wouldn't be paying anything on my car either. when i spoke to her insurance company, the lady there told me that nebraska has a law called contributory negligence and i could be found partially at fault! according to her i should have been ticketed for failure to yield to the right of way. how could someone that ran a red light have the right of way still?! well now finally this past week, they have made their official decision. i think its just a number she grabbed out of a hat, but they somehow determined i was 25% at fault!!! so i only will be getting 75% of the value of the malibu. if the car was worth more, we would probably fight more to get more, but the car was really only worth about $2200. yesterday, we received a call from a guy that will be sending the check, and he told us they would be sending $2300 plus tow charges?! don't know how they came up with that amount, but that's more than the car was worth to begin with! so here's some pics of the aftermath. it almost looks like a can opener was taken to the front of the car, it was hit with such force. to this day, i still have flashbacks everytime i drive through that intersection, especially when i am making a left hand turn. i guess in that sense i am glad we are moving next month!
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