Where is my friend? getting worried now

[listsandbudgets]

Friend coming to stay and said she'd be here about 11am so we could have lunch together. Still no sign of her.

Her DP just texted me about 2.45pm and asked if she'd got here safely as she wasn't answering texts and usually drops him a quick text after long drives to let him now she's turned up. He said she left at 9.30am which is right as it's about an hour and a half. I sent her a text about 12.30 along the lines of don't worry about running late I can hold lunch see you in a bit - no reply.

I've looked at her route on google maps - no traffic holdups that I can see. Not yet replied to her DP - will have to say she's not arrived... luckily he's not the type to panic but he will be concerned obviously.

talk me down I'm imagining all sorts of awful things. I wouldn't worry about an hour or even 2 hours at a push but 4 hours late with no communication is concerning especially as I know she left on time and she's usually really reliable give or take 20 minutes

our 2 cars read out texts and WhatsApps. I can respond back by voice too

Don't beat yourself up. I'm sure a lot of people would have sent a message then not thought about it again for a little while.

Glad all's well. :)

Because it's bonkers

Why would she have a concussion if she didn't crash? If anything I'd be more worried that she's had a TIA or a seizure and that is what has caused her to veer off the road and wreck her tyre.

A sudden sharp stop due to a tyre bursting certainly could cause you to hit your head on a steering wheel which definitely can cause quite bad concussion which she has potential symptoms off but it could as be a seizure either way it highlights that you should get checked out in situations like this

sadly as it is the OPs friend not the OP it is hard to push the recommendation

Glad your friend is ok. I'd have thought a new enough car to have a built in tracker as standard would have a phone charger too. I'd also assume she was concussed when she fell asleep instead of texting anyone.

But you don't stop suddenly when a tyre bursts. In fact the OP says the car skidded and she pulled off to the side of the road. Plus if she was wearing her seatbelt her head wouldn't have been able to hit the steering wheel anyway. A concussion from just a blown-out tyre just doesn't make sense.

I don’t know…I skidded on mud and my car veered violently, hit an exposed tree root which burst my tyre and sent my car flying into the tree itself. Wrote my car off, broke my ribs when I hit the bottom of the steering wheel, burnt my face on the airbag and the rear view mirror flew off and hit me in the nose.

I was pretty beaten up from a crash that had started with me going about 15mph because the road was muddy and I was doing all I could to avoid a crash! I hit the tree at a really shitty angle and did a lot of damage to my car and myself purely due to bad luck.

Ouch @WetBandits that sounds awful 😬🌺

I'm sure @listsandbudgets's friend will be in contact when she's up to it

Was pretty shite, I was only 18 at the time! Recovery took hours and it was early January so absolutely freezing.

@listsandbudgets - don't beat yourself up about it. You wouldn't have had access to the tracker on her car and you wouldn't really have known what route she took.
I got a doodah from Halfords a good few months ago and it's small enough to fit in my glove box but I could charge my phone from it and also my car battery (not at the same time). Cost about €50 if I remember right. Perhaps you could recommend to your friend that she gets one so that she could at least be charging her phone if she ever gets stuck again.

Hope her wrist is better soon. Delighted she managed to be found safely.

Yes. You crashed. It was the impact that caused your injuries. There was no crash in the OP's friend's case (from what she has said). Tyre blew, car skidded, she pulled over to the side of the road. No crash. No deployed airbag. No impact. Nothing to cause a concussion unless she wasn't wearing a seatbelt which I would be surprised about because don't most modern cars beep at you relentlessly if you don't have your seatbelt on?

Suggest she keeps a phone lead in the car from now on so she can keep her phone charged.

I'd encourage her to see a doctor ASAP, OP. Going to sleep like that isn't a normal reaction and she sounds confused now, too.

Not if the Adrenalin’s worn off, which it probably did when her partner turned up and she knew she was safe.
I’ve experienced that kind of comedown from a stressful situation and was almost comatose wanting to just sleep

And learn some phone numbers off by heart, or at least have them written down in the car somewhere.

Yes, it's really odd for her to fall asleep with all that adrenaline in her system, you definitely need to get in touch with her DP and have him get her to the hospital.

Yep, she's flounced off over on AIBU because of some of the replies on this thread.

It's ok, she'll be back in a few weeks to see if us wimmin have stopped asking if domestic violence could be an issue in relationships. Hopefully abusive men will have stopped being abusive men by then.

I thought people knew not to stay in a car that’s still partly on the road too. V dangerous. How she managed to grab some kip is beyond me. Her condition does not sound right at all, very erratic behaviour all round.

I think it's really weird that she fell asleep in the car, tbh.

Not necessarily. Ours has the tracker and USB ports for charging, but needs a charging cable.

Who sets off in a longish journey with a low phone battery? That sounds odd to me.

To skid so much with a tyre blowing out, you'd have to be driving on a motorway or dual carriage way at speed. And it's unusual to sprain a wrist by wrenching the wheel.

I always thought the AA or whoever got to women alone as quick as they can- usually within an hour.

IF this was on a road with other traffic, why did no one else get out to help her?

You're saying she crashed. Usually, others cars would stop or report the accident. If they stopped they'd phone her NOK for support.

If someone falls asleep as she did it says 'concussion' or diabetic coma.

And if she was that tired in advance she ought not to have been driving.