Monday afternoon, my mother’s car got hit by a hospital bus.
As some of you may know, my mother has been sick for the past few months. She has been dealing with chronic back pain that is so bad, she cannot even work. She went to Union Memorial Hospital Monday afternoon because she had an appointment to get injections in her back to help alleviate the pain. Her procedure was finished and she was tired, sore and just wanted to go home. I went with her because she was required to have someone drive her home, since she wasn’t in any condition to drive herself.
We were in the car, leaving Union Memorial Hospital. I was stopped at an intersection, prepared to turn right. There was a hospital bus in front of us who was stopped at the intersection as well. Instead of turning right, the driver decided to go in reverse. He hit us and he didn’t slam the brakes after hitting us, he kept going back and dragged us back with him a little. Then he drove forward, looking like he was going to leave the scene. We are yelling at him. He stops for a moment and then goes in reverse – hitting us again!
We ran up to the bus and he’s like whaaa? huh? We’re like GET OUT OF THE BUS AND LOOK. The dude was either reallllllly tired and old (he’s like in his 60s, which isn’t THAT old) and/or high on marijuana or pills. He was just way too mellow and showed no emotion to what happened.
My mom said to him to exchange each other’s info. He was like “Exchange information? What information? What do you mean? Oh, … well why would we do that? We’re okay, it’s okay”.
That’s when I reached for my cell phone to call the cops. Thank goodness for cells!
I call the cops and they say they’re on their way. Then, a Union Memorial “cop” comes up and tells us, oh don’t call the cops, they won’t come.
I say “Nice try, they’re right there“.
Do I have stupid written across my face? I’m not going to trust someone who is paid by the hospital to be fair and unbiased toward us. The Baltimore City police officer was cool, but not the hospital officer.
The bus driver was like “Well, it’s not my fault. I didn’t know you were behind me”. That doesn’t make it our fault. He should have looked. We weren’t even in his blind spot and he probably shouldn’t even have been reversing in the first place whether or not someone was there. We weren’t moving. He hit us. It’s not our fault.
Why did this crap have to happen Monday of all days? As if my mom doesn’t already feel crappy enough as it is. I’m not really too upset by this, though I’m not too happy, either. But my mom is really upset and that is what makes me mad. I don’t want to see her stressed out and in pain. She just needed to go home and rest after her procedure. But things had to get worse. She’s had to deal with taking off work, worker’s comp, insurance, doctors, etc. the past few months because of her back problems. Now she has to deal with auto insurance, car repairs, renting a car, etc. because of this.
I understand people make mistakes and I am forgiving of that but this was negligence.
He didn’t look. Then didn’t feel us when he smacked into us. Then didn’t hear us yelling at him. Then backed into us again. Then didn’t know why I ran up his bus. Then doesn’t ask if we’re okay or anything. And he didn’t even feel bad for hitting someone who is ill.
Luckily, her car is drivable so far, but it definitely needs repair. The front is dented in and considering that she has a Volvo, that’s pretty bad.
I had to take off yesterday and today. I went to the doctor’s because my neck and back hurt, going down my spine all the way down. My arms and legs are sore and I have bad headaches. I have sprains everywhere. My mom didn’t feel it yesterday but today, she is feeling pain in the same spots that I am. She went to the hospital to feel less pain, not more! I feel bad for her. If it wasn’t for the Volvo, I think our injuries would have been worse.
My doctor said I shouldn’t go back to work until Friday at the earliest and she gave me a note. She said I might even feel the whiplash for a couple weeks, though not as badly as I am today and yesterday. I’m supposed to go to Atlantic City on Sunday through Tuesday so I hope this doesn’t mess with that.
She prescribed me some painkillers and muscle relaxers. So I’ve been sleeping most of the day because it’s making me so drowsy. It hurts to sit up or stand up anyway, so I have just been in bed a lot of the day.
I’m just thankful that the accident wasn’t any worse. I’m not really that pissed because I know that there are people who have been in much worse accidents than this. The main thing that I am dissatisfied about is that my mom has to deal with this and that the bus driver could have put a bunch of passengers at risk. But luckily, no one but him was in the bus.