Around 1903 on 01/28/2001 I was traveling eastbound on 5th street with one passenger in my 1995 Chevrolet Lumina sedan, crossing the I75/85 bridge. I estimate my vehicle's speed at 25 mph, and I was in the right lane as I crossed the bridge. A vehicle was coming northbound on Williams street and the driver failed to observe the stop sign. The concrete structure of the bridge rail obstructed my view of cross-traffic. His vehicle struck mine at the intersection on the front passenger side; my vehicle spun to the left and did a complete 180° spin, coming to rest in front of the sidewalk on the opposite side of the intersection. His vehicle went to the east and ended up against the curb about 30 feet east of the intersection on 5th street.

Both airbags deployed on my vehicle; I was on the side of the vehicle not impacted, so my injuries were minor and limited to bruises on the hands, soreness of nose (airbag), bruises from the seatbelt on the chest, bruises on the arms, neck and lower back pain, and a sharp bruise to the left knee. The passenger in my vehicle received the airbag impact as well as striking the door; sharp bruises were obtained all along the right side of the body. The passenger's right elbow was also injured. The passenger's eyeglass frames were bent and one of the eyepieces was retreived from the back seat of the vehicle after the collision; a small cut was incurred from the glasses on the bridge of the nose. The driver of the other vehicle had more severe injuries; abrasions to the leg (open cuts), broken bones, and several other injuries comparable to mine and my passenger's.

My vehicle's engine remained running, although I had to kick the driver-side door open with both feet to exit. Radiator fluid and gasoline were both leaking onto the ground under the vehicle, so after a quick inspection of my passenger's condition to rule any obvious neck or back injuries I got her out and away from the vehicle. I then called the Georgia Tech police and went over to check on the driver of the other vehicle; after ascertaining that he was not losing any significant amount of blood, I returned to my passenger and shut off my vehicle.

My vehicle sustained damage to the hood, both front fenders, driver's front door, and passenger side rear door. The windshield was destroyed from the air bag impact, and the bumper was mostly ripped off. The right front wheel appeared to be misaligned with the left front wheel, and the radiator had leaked a significant amount of fluid on the ground. Items in the interior of the car were quite scattered; a fountain drink that was sitting in the center console cup holder ended up mostly covering my passenger.

The other driver's vehicle was a smaller vehicle; it sustained heavy damage on the front left side; it looked a lot like mine with similar damage to other areas.

The Georgia Tech police were the first responders; they called Atlanta Police and got an ambulance to come. Both my passenger and the driver of the other vehicle were transported to Grady Medical Center for treatment. My passenger was released by 23:00 that night; I do not know the condition of the other driver. Sometime after the police arrived I called some friends of ours. I had one of them take a few pictures of the scene and vehicles (linked to below); others helped take most of the valuable items out of my vehicle and came with us to the hospital.

The other driver was cited for failure to stop at a stop sign and for not having his driver's license with him; he did have valid insurance. (Citations were of type 40-6-72 B and 40-5-20). Nobody involved had been drinking; I received no citations. Both vehicles were towed to tow company lots; I received a sheet from the Atlanta officer with summons no. 406217 for a court date of 1:00pm on the 27th of February, 2001.

Pictures from the scene that a friend took about thirty minutes after it occured.

Digital and film pictures from the scene that I took on the 29th.

Digital and film pictures of my car from the impound lot that I took on the 31st.

Stuff you need a password to access:

Atlanta Police report for the collision

Only for Peter: Notes I have taken while on the phone or other fun.