That was scary. Really scary. On my way home from work tonight I got rear-ended - badly. There I was, stuck in stop and go traffic, talking with Jan on my cell phone when BANG! The phone flew off somewhere, change flew around and even the ashtray flew out of its little drawer. Me? I slammed back into the seat, driving it backward about 20 degrees and slammed my left leg into the dash. My right leg was firmly on the brake, which is why the car in front of me didn't get damaged even though I did get driven into it. I think I was winded but I'm not sure since I was so shaken that all I could do was sit there and curse vaguely and hope I was OK. I was, although I'll need to get my back checked out tomorrow.

I was hit from behind by a large Chevy Astro van that was in turn hit from behind (they say) by someone else who promptly drove off.

I called 911 and they were reasonably prompt (I spoke to someone real in less than a minute) and they spent a while getting exact details of my location and then said the CHP would be there soon. We were four lanes away from the right shoulder and eventually we managed to edge across (the Astro and I). The Astro driver claimed to have gotten hitten from behind once to cause the original accident and then again later after the first person drove away. I don't know I wasn't able to see... all I know was BANG!

I'm glad I don't have to go in to work tomorrow and I won't be going in Friday either.

More later when I recover.