Rear ended someone and im so worried and scared

[missymoomel]

I was driving down a country lane one that I have been driving everyday since last year, the road is 60 I was doing about 50, the csr infront of me stopped suddenly because the car infront of him stopped suddenly and as soon as I saw his break lights I pushed my foot so hard on the break but the car didn't slow down in time and I hit the back of the car very hard, my car is damaged and will be a write off, there was a lady passanger in the back of the car and she was injured she hurt her neck and couldn't move it properly, the ambulance and police came, did a breathalyser which was 0, took my details ans said they would be in touch if they needed anything else.But im feeling so guilty for the women they took her to hospital to be assessed she got out of thr car with help ans they put her in the ambulance with a red box thing round her head, I cant sleep properly or eat much and I just keep replying over and over in my mind , im so worried about her ans I dont even know how she is, and I dont know what's going to happen to me with the police, and im also scared to drive again

No, I don’t think that would reflect well on you. I know you want to know how she is but she has privacy rights.

You must be feeling really shaken, that's an upsetting situation to be in. I had a near miss once (completely my fault as well, for some reason I just didn't see the massive lorry when I checked for cars before turning onto the main road, possibly it came out of the parking space opposite so I didn't clock it but in case my fault for not seeing it and I nearly drove into the side of it) and I couldn't stop shaking afterwards, pulled over and parked as soon as it was safe and cried and nothing had actually happened so I imagine it's a far far worse feeling after an actual collision.

I wonder why your car didn't stop though, when did your brakes last get checked?

The car is being picked up by copart and will most likely be written off im scared to get in the car we have to find another car but I might have to rent beside im getting 2 busses to get tow work but its fine about that

Yes its horrible situation i hope i get over tjis and the poor women aswell, the mot and service was done in April I pressed the breaks like I would to stop normally and then I was like omg and pushed them right down

Yeah i know her family member has all my details i hope she will reach out to me

Aww OP you sound like a lovely, caring conscientious person. As others have said please don’t be hard on yourself - these things sometimes happen. We can only ever do our best in any given situation💖

It was an accident OP. You weren’t drunk, you weren’t speeding, you weren’t on the phone. You were almost certainly too close behind, but to be honest, anyone who tries to adhere rigidly to stopping distances usually ends up being overtaken by someone who then slots into the gap!

It’s natural to replay accidents in your mind, but your insurance will take care of the costs, and life goes on.

Yeah i most definitely will now

Yup, I was a passenger in a crash around 30 years ago.

I went to hospital later that evening (not thankfully in a ambulance).

My friend who was driving, said her insurance got a bill for my treatment (at the local NHS) hospital.

I've also been in a fairly major RTC, which required two ambulances and at least 1 police car and 1 police bike.

Hospital treatment included for two DC and myself. My DD went back into hospital the next day for an MRI.

I dread to think of the bill to his insurance.

Yeah I know but I just cant stop thinking about that women and how she and her family must hate me so much , I keep praying to god that she will be fine

The insurer pays this, along with a fee for the visit to hospital. I think the most I've ever paid on behalf of an insurer was about £26k as the injured person was in hospital for a fair while.

Okay thankyou , I will just pay whatever I need too

Here's the charges:

www.gov.uk/government/publications/compensation-recovery-unit-bulletins/recovery-of-nhs-charges-tariff-and-cap-increase-from-1-october-2025

Accidents happen. (I've been in 5 as a passenger!) Be kind to yourself. I'm sure the lady is fine. I'm sorry you've got such shitty parents.

Oh no I have never had accident before so I don't know anything about how it all works

Not with ABS, which has been used these last 50 years. You can (and should) press down on the brake pedal as hard as you can, the car clamps and releases the brakes by micro-computer to prevent skids and locking.

I know the police see every worse accidents everyday, but this was my first and hopefully last time and I just don't know what to do with myself.I am going to have to rent a car i think as finding and buying a car takes time

No i was not drunk or on drugs, or on my phone or anything like that, I have had cars take over me before and one time a car overtook someone on the other side and I had to slow down otherwise he may of hit me, this will most definitely be a lesson to me

Try not to be too hard on yourself. it was an accident. If you still aren't feeling better about it after a while, you can try therapy too because these types of things are traumatizing

Sent a bill of the ambulance? This isn’t Australia

Yeah indi press them as hard as I can but maybe not hard enough like emergency stop then but I did press them so hard and it did feel like it wasent slowing down quick enough ans almost kiddy but I dont think there was any skid or break marks

Just wanted to say, a close relative worked in insurance his whole life & always said start driving again straight away before it becomes a ‘thing’ for you

Why did you not press the brake to the floor initially? That's what you do in an emergency situation surely?
Also had you been drinking and are you drinking now as your partly use of the brakes and all the errors in your posts are concerning.
You will get better advice on here if you are honest.

Yeah my mum judged me straight away, but saying that she walked out on me ans my sister when we was little and left us with my alcoholic father, and I spoke to my dads partner about the accident I thought he would message me but he didnt.

Please don’t worry, these things happen. I was driven into by someone who pulled out of a side road straight into me. My car was totalled, all the airbags went off and my legs were injured. But I don’t have any issues with the other driver, accidents happen. The young lady who drove into me didn’t intend for it to happen. So I’m sure your lady and her family are not thinking bad thoughts about you. They recognised you were in shock and affected too.