Year End Rear End

I'm not talking about the aftermath of those holiday pounds everyone puts on. We were rear-ended the other day and it was a totally ridiculous thing. We were waiting at a red light at the California Incline and PCH. We were the first car in line and had been stopped for at least 30 seconds. All of a sudden I hear a crunch and we all lurched forward.

What the??? We had been observing this older woman behind us on Wilshire and she was driving erratically. We get out of the car to check for damage. The woman thought we had backed up into her!! My husband said we were just sitting there and then she realized she had absent-mindedly taken her foot off the brake. She apologized. The woman appeared to my husband to be a little addled and/or drunk.

Luckily, there was no damage to the car and since it was a low impact we all seemed okay. Until we got home. I had neck surgery in 2001 and although I am fine now, I do get painful flare-ups occasionally. We all had experienced a little whiplash, but I was in pain and a little scared. Some naprosyn and ice helped a lot and in a few hours I felt better.

This took place very close to the Farmer's Market tragedy we had here a few years ago, where an older man while fleeing from hitting a car, crashed into the market and killed 10 people and wounded 63 others. I was a few blocks from there when it happened and the area looked like a war zone. It was horrific.

I hope one day there'll be a law or ordinance to retest and/or restrict older drivers. They're not safe to themselves or any of us.

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday week and I wish you all a happy, healthy and peaceful new year.