Why I Had To Go To Court

 The week of November 29th, 2021 was a pretty shitty week....being that it was the week I was diagnosed with stupid cancer!

It started out okay....week after Thanksgiving, Brock was in NY for work and Leda and I were alone for the week. We've been finishing up the living room redecorate and we had decided to go to a smaller coffee table than the one we had. I found one on FB marketplace (my favorite place to shop for stuff!!) and had planned to go pick it up on Monday night. Leda and I thought we'd run up to the person's house, grab the table and go grab some dinner on the way home.

About a mile from our home is a roundabout - it has 5 exit/entrances. I like roundabouts, keeps traffic moving, for the most part. We entered the roundabout around 530 pm, so rush hour traffic was moving through. I had to go to the third exit, which is pretty tight to the 2nd entrance. I was noticing a line of traffic coming to the roundabout with a truck and trailer (landscaping truck and trailer) leading the way. Leda and I were chatting and I am pretty sure I said this a loud, "He's not going to stop." Because I was watching him, I realized that there was no way he was slowing down coming into the roundabout and that I was most likely either going to hit him or get hit by him. At this point, I am trying to determine which is going to occur and realize he will hit me at the rate I am going...and if I slow down, he will broadside the truck right into the passenger side where Leda is sitting. So I kept my speed up, heading for my exit....and I got hit in the rear end, which threw the truck off and I ended up hitting the guardrail with the front right.

I pulled off the road when I realized I hit the front hard enough to bend the fender into the tire and moving may damage the tire. I turned around and opened my door to make sure the driver stopped - which, he kept going through the circle. I was quite angry, yelled some choice words at him and then had to figure out what to do....adrenaline running, I was hot, angry and ready to rip someone a new one....I called Brock (because that was my first thought) and he suggested calling the police, so I did. The State Police barracks is only about a mile from the roundabout (other direction of our home) and so they showed up pretty quickly - around the same time, the driver of the truck shows up on foot... he pulled through the roundabout and parked on the side of the road up a bit. I calmed down pretty quickly after that, at least he came back. He also took full responsibility (Duh!) for the accident. 

Neither Leda nor I was hurt, it was a low speed accident. But my poor truck did need a tow! We had it towed home (since we were only a mile down the road!) and we ended up calling a local body shop that came highly recommended and the truck did end up get getting fixed and looks almost new! (only body damage, thank goodness!).

Fast forward to this past weekend, I get a call on my cell from "State Police" which is kinda nerve wracking when your kid is not at home! LOL! It was the responding officer to the accident asking that I attend court on Tuesday to testify as the driver of the truck that hit me had been cited and he was pleading Not Guilty. Now, I totally understand his thinking....expecting no one will show up and he will get off and not have to pay the bill. But this was a pretty serious offense. He could have hurt us and he even took full blame for it in front of both the officer and I! So, I attended court to testify!

Tuesday morning - I arrive at the municipal court and meet up with the Trooper who came to the scene. We were chatting when the defendant arrived....a nice 27 year old man who had never had an accident before and plead not guilty because he didn't understand the citation. That's what he stated as we waited for the court to call us in. Instead of changing his plea, he said, let's go through this and see what happens....so into court we went, up to the witness stand I got to go and swear on the bible that everything I will say is true! I was in that seat for about 5 mins at the most and answered all the Trooper's questions and then was dismissed. When it came right down to it, the defendant was found guilty of failing to yield and he had to pay the fine. Took all of about 15 mins! 

Was an interesting way to start the day! I'm glad that part of this is over - we can move on and here's hoping I never see the inside of a court room again! ;-)