Car Crash Etiquette

So last Thursday I'm minding my own business and all traffic laws when a cute little puppy starts to make his way across Old Hickory Blvd.  Being the animal lover, and decent person that I am, I slowed to a stop so the puppy could be on his way.  The person behind me?  Did not.  BAM!  Rear-ended.

We pull over to the side of the road and although I want to be mad, the man has children in the backseat.  Plus, I am only rude to people that are rude to me, and although crashing into my 2012 model car wasn't the nicest thing ever, I tried to give the guy the benefit of the doubt.

Until he said he didn't have insurance.  In the words of Ms. NeNe Leakes, "Boop!"

I called the non-emergency police (911 is only for life threatening emergencies, y'all) and we began to wait.  I am also cradling the dog at this point because the poor thing is scared.  I also call its owner and inform them I have the dog and they can come pick it up on the side of the road, right before you get onto I-40.  I'm sure the person was very confused, but sure enough little Sally and her mom came and got Buttons and they lived happily ever after.  Not sure if her name really was Sally, but Buttons was pleased nonetheless. 

Now, back to non-insured guy.  I have compiled a list of car crash etiquette tips below that he may find useful, in hindsight.  If he isn't in jail.  But that's a little bit further down into the story.

DO stop if you have hit someone.  He scored well on this point.

DON'T rear-end someone when it is 101 degrees outside.  Waiting on the side of the road for the police to come is never an enjoyable experience, but is even less enjoyable when you feel like you are melting. 

DO apologize profusely.  He gets a 5/10 on this one.  While he did say he was sorry, I didn't feel like he was showing the remorse he should have.  Of course, his car was in way worse shape than mine, so maybe he was just calculating repair costs in his head and having a silent freak-out. 

DON'T ignore your two screaming children in the backseat.  Seriously, you would think one of us was dying the kids were crying so much.  They weren't injured, thankfully, but they were freaked out.  And the dad wouldn't let them get out of the car or hug them or anything.  I wanted to go talk to them to try and calm them down, but thought that might be a little awkward.  Plus, I had spilled orange juice all over myself and was getting stickier by the second as it dried on my clothes and skin.  If I had hugged the kids they probably would have been stuck to me, and I didn't have that kind of time. 

And the number one DON'T is DON'T rear end someone if you have an outstanding warrant hovering over your head!  Yes, the guy had to call someone to come get his kids so the police wouldn't have to handcuff him in front of his children.  Talk about having a bad day.

The rest of the morning was spent getting a rental car, dealing with insurance, and going home to wash off the orange juice before finally getting to work around 11:00 a.m.  Not the most fun four hour ordeal.  It could have definitely been worse.  Thank goodness no one was hurt...I was pretty sore for a couple of days and spent a lot of time soaking in the tub but that was the extent of my injuries. 

I'm going to forego the question set for today because I slept for a grand total of 90 minutes last night and am trying to conserve my brain usage on an as-needed basis today.  Hopefully the jumbo Dunkin Donuts drink I bought will get me to lunch at least. 

Drive safe, buckle up, click it or ticket, and all that jazz...