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This Tuesday evening I was at a business event in Austin, TX. While driving back to my hotel I was in a serious auto accident. With the green light in my view I entered an intersection at cruising speed (35mph?). In a split second of ultra violence I remember seeing a flash of white from my left side, the unmistakable metallic crunch of collision, and then the smell smoke. My next thought was looking up out the spider-shattered window and still seeing that I had a green light.
Some friendly people at the scene helped me get out of the car (a Chevy Aveo rental) and got me a blanket. I was bleeding from my left wrist, nose, and right leg and felt trauma all over. Still shaking from the accident a witness assured me that he saw it all and I was "in the good". The driver that hit me wasn't helpful as he claimed to only speak Spanish, had no driver's license, nor insurance. How someone like that can hit me an a Ford Excursion (also probably at cruising speed) is beyond me. I never heard his breaks and I didn't use any myself as I didn't see it until the hit. I was hit in the diver side in my little econo-rental by nothing less than a charging Ford Excursion! My little Aveo rental was horribly disfigured and utterly totaled. Three airbags deployed and while I couldn't exit the driver's side, the car did an amazing job of transferring nearly all the energy around me.
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The next day's better light....
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Some extremely friendly EMTs appeared and took me to the ambulance to make sure nothing was life threatening. Those guys were really great and I really felt good in their care. I'll be writing a letter in support of them.
I was at the scene for about an hour while the police sorted it out and a co-worker came to get me. The other driver got cited for no license, no insurance, and running the red. I was deemed not at fault. I later showered at my co-workers place and noticed that I had numerous bruising, cuts, contusions on the left side of my head, and burns from the airbags. I also had a wound on my leg that I just could not stop from bleeding. So I left to head to the Emergency room. In the ER the Dr was helpful and explained that I had a puncture would that they couldn't stitch without worry of infection. It was supposed to bleed out to remove any material that might have entered with the protrusion. They took X-rays to make sure nothing was broken in my chest or still in my leg before they let me go. It was as I glanced at my wrist to see how late it was that I noticed my new GMT-IIc my wife gave my as an anniversary present was gone!
I frantically called the EMT service and they didn't have it. I got back to my co-worker's home and checked the bathroom and it wasn't in there. Thus, it must either still be in the care (hopefully) or left at the scene (not much hope).
The next morning I went to wrecker yard and located the car. There in the front floorboard, covered in shattered glass, blood, and some papers was my GMT. Still ticking and still keeping time! Unfortunately the bracelet was toast. The deployment of the airbags must have sheered the metal clasp and a screw-in pin to take it off my wrist. I never found the fold over portion of the clasp or the bit it connected to. It wasn't in the car as far as I could tell. The broken glass has made the bracelet probably a total loss, but the case held up extremely well with only the most minor of hair scratches. I have some horrible pics below. Notice the clasp and where the metal sheered at the top of the longer one. Sorry about the poor pic quality, I'll have my wife help me get better ones soon.
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So, I'll be taking my beloved watch to the AD and have them send it off to Rolex for repairs. I do have a couple questions for the community here.
Some friendly people at the scene helped me get out of the car (a Chevy Aveo rental) and got me a blanket. I was bleeding from my left wrist, nose, and right leg and felt trauma all over. Still shaking from the accident a witness assured me that he saw it all and I was "in the good". The driver that hit me wasn't helpful as he claimed to only speak Spanish, had no driver's license, nor insurance. How someone like that can hit me an a Ford Excursion (also probably at cruising speed) is beyond me. I never heard his breaks and I didn't use any myself as I didn't see it until the hit. I was hit in the diver side in my little econo-rental by nothing less than a charging Ford Excursion! My little Aveo rental was horribly disfigured and utterly totaled. Three airbags deployed and while I couldn't exit the driver's side, the car did an amazing job of transferring nearly all the energy around me.
The next day's better light....
Some extremely friendly EMTs appeared and took me to the ambulance to make sure nothing was life threatening. Those guys were really great and I really felt good in their care. I'll be writing a letter in support of them.
I was at the scene for about an hour while the police sorted it out and a co-worker came to get me. The other driver got cited for no license, no insurance, and running the red. I was deemed not at fault. I later showered at my co-workers place and noticed that I had numerous bruising, cuts, contusions on the left side of my head, and burns from the airbags. I also had a wound on my leg that I just could not stop from bleeding. So I left to head to the Emergency room. In the ER the Dr was helpful and explained that I had a puncture would that they couldn't stitch without worry of infection. It was supposed to bleed out to remove any material that might have entered with the protrusion. They took X-rays to make sure nothing was broken in my chest or still in my leg before they let me go. It was as I glanced at my wrist to see how late it was that I noticed my new GMT-IIc my wife gave my as an anniversary present was gone!
I frantically called the EMT service and they didn't have it. I got back to my co-worker's home and checked the bathroom and it wasn't in there. Thus, it must either still be in the care (hopefully) or left at the scene (not much hope).
The next morning I went to wrecker yard and located the car. There in the front floorboard, covered in shattered glass, blood, and some papers was my GMT. Still ticking and still keeping time! Unfortunately the bracelet was toast. The deployment of the airbags must have sheered the metal clasp and a screw-in pin to take it off my wrist. I never found the fold over portion of the clasp or the bit it connected to. It wasn't in the car as far as I could tell. The broken glass has made the bracelet probably a total loss, but the case held up extremely well with only the most minor of hair scratches. I have some horrible pics below. Notice the clasp and where the metal sheered at the top of the longer one. Sorry about the poor pic quality, I'll have my wife help me get better ones soon.
So, I'll be taking my beloved watch to the AD and have them send it off to Rolex for repairs. I do have a couple questions for the community here.
- Anyone know what a SS GMT/Daytona bracelet with clasp costs?
- I have personal auto insurance, but this being a work thing I'm covered by the rental company. Do you think they might cover the repairs to the watch?
. I can't tell if the cuts were explicitly from the watch, but it seems likely that it was a significant contributor. I actually was wearing the watch with a dress shirt cuff and a heavy sport jacket over it. So it wasn't just out there “naked”. I can't fault Rolex for wanting to make secure bracelets. John, maybe you know someone at Rolex that might be interested in seeing it for safety reasons?
