Dirty Dan Dawkins Posted September 18, 2019 Share Posted September 18, 2019 Ya'll please lift up my father in law if ya find a few moments. Last Tuesday he was heading to town on a section of Hwy 278 that is 2 lane. In the approaching lane, a car was stopped waiting to make a left hand turn. As he reached the halted car, it was rear ended by someone in a pickup truck going 15 over the speed limit, and screwing around on her phone. Its a pretty straight, flat stretch. She said she never noticed a stopped Chevy Impala in front of her and hit it full speed. 65 mph. This collision propelled the Impala into my father in laws lane and the two cars banged sides. My father in laws car was going 50-55. The collision knocked him off the road, out of control and head into a 150' tall or so, 4' diameter concrete utility pole about 125' away. They had to cut him out and life flight him to the hospital. His upper left arm completely shattered with bones projecting out. Right forearm, similar thing. Left knee shattered. Left knee dislocated. Multiple ribs cracked. Neck injury and hes in a massive collar that extends down to the shoulders, though no one has told me any details on the neck yet. He has all of his mental faculties, thankfully, and is fully alert, aware, talks, and everything. He was moved to a rehab center yesterday, and will be there for what they expect to be 3-6 months. He's really looking at his knee having to fully recover before walking. With two arms injured so badly, and the broken ribs, he cannot put any weight on either arm or on his ribs, so crutches and walkers are out. They have repaired the arms and the knee, but right now, hes flat on his back unable to feed himself, scratch an itch or anything. He'll probably be in bed at least 6-8 more weeks they said. And he needs full time professional care til he recovers. We have been warned that he may very well lose full use of his hands or arms. We all get the sense they are not telling us everything, though the amount of information they do share is too much to recall. On a positive note, he did get into a dedicated rehab center, rather than a typical long term care/nursing home. This place is really really nice and his nephew being a doctor just down the road making a call or two made all of the difference. They usually don't take people longer than 2-3 weeks, and his nephew knew that before calling. Told us all it was a long shot. And they even said they don't typically hold people more than 3 weeks. They think he'll be in as much as 3-6 months. The rooms are huge, private and just plain comfortable. And its fairly new and modern, built within the last year or two. The staff is really good too. Doctor/nurse/therapist ratio real good compared to other facilities that rely heavily upon low paid, low skill overloaded caregivers. No one else in the wreck was hurt. The driver of the truck admitted fault, and gave all the details about the phone, her speed, everything. She was transported by ambulance due to a panic attack. She thought she may have killed someone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tyrel Cody Posted September 18, 2019 Share Posted September 18, 2019 Prayers up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pat Riot Posted September 18, 2019 Share Posted September 18, 2019 Big time prayers up. I also hope the woman on the cell phone...you know what, never mind. Prayers up for your Father-in-Law. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984 Posted September 18, 2019 Share Posted September 18, 2019 Also, when stopped to make a turn, don’t turn your wheels until actually turning Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Painted Mohawk SASS 77785 Posted September 18, 2019 Share Posted September 18, 2019 Big fines in Australia if you are caught talking on a hand held mobile phone [ your cell ] while driving or for that matter even stationary as you are still in control of a vehicle...in my state of Queensland the penalty has just risen from $ 330 to $1000..2nd offence & your vehicle is confiscated...best wishes to your father in law DDD for a quick recovery. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984 Posted September 18, 2019 Share Posted September 18, 2019 Also illegal in many states. Must be able to use the phone hands free Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rye Miles #13621 Posted September 18, 2019 Share Posted September 18, 2019 Prayers up! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smoken D Posted September 18, 2019 Share Posted September 18, 2019 †Prayers on the Way† Happens all too often Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Perro Del Diablo Posted September 18, 2019 Share Posted September 18, 2019 Praying for quick and full recovery. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cold Lake Kid, SASS # 51474 Posted September 18, 2019 Share Posted September 18, 2019 Prayers on the way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pat Riot Posted September 18, 2019 Share Posted September 18, 2019 I really think that if the government wants to mandate all these silly safety devices that drive car prices through the roof they should mandate a roof light that comes on when ever a two way communication device is active within a car. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cold Lake Kid, SASS # 51474 Posted September 18, 2019 Share Posted September 18, 2019 Here in Ontario, it's $615.00 or up to $1000.00, three demerit points and three day licence suspension. for the first offence. Things double for each subsequent offence, just to get your attention. The LEO's here in the city are creative in catching abusers, riding in high trucks and buses to look down into cars beside them and catch these birds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sixgun Sheridan Posted September 18, 2019 Share Posted September 18, 2019 All the laws banning cell phone use aren't going to change habits one bit. We have a strict cell phone law here in WA but everybody ignores it. It's high time these ban-happy Democrats started pushing mandatory lockout software on all cell phones when they detect forward motion in excess of 10 mph. I don't care about the passengers either. They can put the phone away and enjoy the view outside. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackwater 53393 Posted September 18, 2019 Share Posted September 18, 2019 Prayers up for your father-in-law!! 7 hours ago, Painted Mohawk SASS 77785 said: Big fines in Australia if you are caught talking on a hand held mobile phone [ your cell ] while driving or for that matter even stationary as you are still in control of a vehicle...in my state of Queensland the penalty has just risen from $ 330 to $1000..2nd offence & your vehicle is confiscated...best wishes to your father in law DDD for a quick recovery. I wish that this was the starting point of penalties, NATION WIDE!! All this "self driving" technology and automatic braking and lane warning crap is designed so that these NO DRIVING, self absorbed, multi-tasking while driving idiots can wander around freely on our thoroughfares while irresponsibly operating vehicles that they aren't truly qualified to drive!! It puts the rest of us in more danger and negatively effects the natural selection process that has protected us for thousands of years!! This incident and others like it are NOT ACCIDENTS!! These are instances of willful disregard for the safety of others and should be criminally prosecuted as deeds done with malice aforethought!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
St. Louis Suomi SASS #31905 Posted September 18, 2019 Share Posted September 18, 2019 Prayers up for all involved. Special prayer for your father. I really hat people who use the cell phone and drive. STL Suomi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Bill Burt Posted September 18, 2019 Share Posted September 18, 2019 I hope your FIL gets better soon Dan! Hands on the cell phone while driving is illegal here in Georgia, so she'll get a whopping $50 fine for that part of the accident. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sixgun Sheridan Posted September 18, 2019 Share Posted September 18, 2019 A whopping $50?!? It needs to be at least $500! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hardpan Curmudgeon SASS #8967 Posted September 18, 2019 Share Posted September 18, 2019 A few months ago I came upon the scene of an accident just as the Life Flight chopper was lifting off. Head-on collision on a two-lane country road, speed limit 55. High school kid veered across the center line. Killed instantly. Multiple injuries in the SUV he hit, and one 11-year old also killed instantly. Family was returning from an amusement park outing to celebrate the kids good report card grades. Speculation was that the high-school kid "may have been texting, but we'll never know." Seems like that would be pretty easy to determine - look at the phone and phone records. On the other hand, the law enforcement types can sometimes be too overbearing. I knew a fella who pulled off the road and parked to make a call. Cold, winter day. Cop pulled up behind him, and wrote him a $200 ticket - vehicle parked, not moving, but since the key was in the ignition, it "constituted operating a motor vehicle and we have a zero-tolerance policy!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allie Mo, SASS No. 25217 Posted September 19, 2019 Share Posted September 19, 2019 So sorry to see this Dan. I hope he has a swift and easy recovery. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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