[RWebb]

Luckily, I was in the beater Subaru (which is now a real beater).

The 27 yr. old woman told me she was not on a cell phone, and said she thought the light was yellow. I went back later and it is about a 3 sec. yellow. Three witnesses said the light was red when she ran it and plowed into me.

She hit me in the rear passenger door - and she hit so hard my car was spun around about 150 degrees, pointing partially backwards. Her car "plowed through" mine and went maybe 100 ft. further before she stopped. I always keep watch at the intersections in this congested area (scared of hitting a ped. or bicyclist who are thick in this area), and did not see her, implying that she was pretty far down the street, and going very fast. The speed limit on her street is 20 mph and I estimate she was going about twice that.

Some fun things: [1] one witness, a young guy, was mainly concerned with me blocking the bike lane (I pulled over into the bike lane and took a few seconds to decompress, then left the car with the blinkers on while I got out and looked around for the car that hit me).

[2] Somebody called 911, and Fire Dept. was there right away. The cops did not come out, but sent a Community Service person (not a sworn officer). He was a nice young kid, but they do not file a "real" accident report. You are required to report it to them and to the state DMV (as it was over $1,500 in damage).

[3] The DMV form says they will not give me a copy of my own report (misdemeanor if you do not file!), but they do stick into your driving record (which a cop will see if he stops you for revenue collection)!

[4] My ins. co. took my report and will send me a nice letter, suitable for framing. I don't carry collision on this car, so they told me to collect from the other driver's insurance co. Sorta sounds like they are telling me "you're on yer own, sucka!"
We will see...