So, on the way to help Trae set up for the New Year’s celebration, some car cut me off, then started slowing down to about 15 or 20 miles per hour on the road. I also slowed down (quickly) to avoid an accident with the car in front of me. This was the highway, and there was a big RV thing pulling a trailer behind me that was travelling at a speed around 70 miles per hour — and the driver was not paying attention. As a result, the large vehicle behind me slammed into the back of my car at a very high speed.

Not only is my back and neck sore now, but the back of my (otherwise still-new) car is all smashed up. The bumper is barely hanging on, the trunk lid is bent, and the back of my car’s body is also out of whack.

Other problems have arised as well. The trunk will not close and the lights inside would not turn off (I had to pull a fuse), the gas gauge says empty (and the red light is on) even though I have a full tank of gas, and the engine is revving high during an idle state.

Luckily, the car seems drivable right now, but as the trunk can’t close, I have to plan on how I’m getting back in relation to the weather so that rain would not enter my non-closing trunk and cause a mess and a possibility of mildew. (Yuck!)

The repairs (once underway) will take anywhere from a week or two at least. Now, I have to deal with the other people’s insurance company to have them fix my car fully with authentic parts at a good body place and to get a decent rental car for when it is in the shop.

Sigh. Still, it could have been worse. The big vehicle that hit me was quite large and had a lot of inertia. If I had been driving something other than a Volvo, I don’t know how much worse it might have been.