A Police Car Rear Ended Me In The Freeway

Location: California

Hi everyone! I’m seeking advice because I was rear-ended by a police officer on duty a few days ago in the freeway when traffic started slowing down. There were only 2 lanes and the right lane was starting to close down due to construction and so the left lane was starting to slow down, me included. I remember seeing a someone’s headlights (this happened at 11 PM) zooming in towards me through my rearview mirror and I remember how scared I was and I just knew I was gonna get hit hard.

After I was rear-ended, he turned on his sirens and that’s when I knew it was a cop. I hit my neck and shoulder against the steering wheel as a result of the impact. I got out of the car to see the damage and it was bad. (This was a relative’s brand new car, not even 4000 miles. It’s also a lease and this will impact the car’s value if she decides to buy it.)

The first thing I did was I went to him and said “you did see there was traffic ahead of me and that’s why I had to slow down right?” He said yeah and asked if I was okay and in the spur of the moment I said I don’t know yes. I went back to my car and we pulled over to the ramp and we were waiting for his supervisor to come. His supervisor came and was really nice and wrote a report. California Highway Patrol also came and wrote a report of their own. I got his badge number and name and his supervisor’s name and badge number. They asked if I was hurt and I said yes I feel pain in my neck and shoulder. They asked if I needed an ambulance or I could just go get checked out on my own, I said I do want to get checked out and I’m pushing through the pain, but not sure if I want an ambulance.

I went to urgent care the next day and got checked out by a doctor and got a work excuse note. I was unable to go to my jobs due to the work excuse and lost out of wages. I also am so scared to drive now and I ask my sister to drive me to places. Whenever I try to sleep, the first thing I see is the headlights zooming into me through my rear-view mirror. I got prescribed some ibuprofen and muscle relaxers and have an x-ray scheduled on Tuesday, but I’m always feeling this unpleasant discomfort in my neck and shoulder and it’s painful when I lift heavier things.