The Demise of the Escape (Part 1)

So, I survived my first car accident. The ordeal isn't totally over with, so, by "survived" I mean I walked away with minimal injuries. There was a very fortunate series of events that could have made it entirely worse or even tragic. Fortunately, I didn't have any kids in the car. The other lady's airbag saved her and the point of impact on my car, had I hesitated any, could have been smack in the middle of my door. It's funny how many dumb little details I remember, but can't recall some of the important things - mainly like where that other car came from! And most of it was kind of like a dream where things don't really make sense until you wake up.

So, what happened: After I dropped Chloe off at school two weeks ago, I was leaving via a side-street and sat at the stop sign for a while, waiting for a break in the opposing traffic so I could make a left-hand turn through the median. There was a pause in the traffic turning in from the median. Coming down the main road was a white truck with a few cars directly behind him. I remember seeing his turn signal, and as he slowed down to turn into the street from which I was coming out, I decided to cross into the median. But as soon as I cleared the cover of his vehicle, SMACK! I was hit. I never saw what hit me until after I put my vehicle in park and got out. I am intentionally not letting my mind fill in the blanks, and there are certainly lots of them because I never saw the car that I collided with.

My head hitting the side column was the first and last thing I remember before I realized the commotion was over but my car was still moving. I was rolling toward another truck in the median. My vision was blurry, but I stepped on my brake and put my car in park. I remember looking at the man in the truck in the median and after I stumbled out of my car he asked me if I was okay. He took my word for it and drove off and I COULD KICK MYSELF for not asking him to stick around as a witness.

So, I put my car in park and got out to check on the other driver. I had a bump on my head. The other lady was already on her phone. I could hear her sobbing, "My car, my car! What am I going to do? What am I going to do!" I stooped down so she could see me and talk to me, but she wouldn't get out or roll her window down. But if she was on her phone crying about the condition of her car, then I figured she was probably okay. Her whole front end was crumpled in and leaking fluids. It smelled like gasoline, and it was clear, but Walter said it was just radiator fluid. Her airbag was still smoking inside the vehicle.

I went back to my car and grabbed my phone. I was shaking and had a hard time dialing. I called Walter first. "I've been in an accident and I need your help," I said and told him where I was. I can't remember if that's when the guy in the median asked if I was okay. Did he ask the first time I got out or after I got off the phone? The other lady was still on her phone, so I called 911. Maybe that's who she was already talking to, but I was running on autopilot and only doing what I knew to do. There was some confusion with the 911 operators determining what district I was in because I was right on the border between the city and the incorporated municipality. The operator asked me if the other lady was okay and I said that she wasn't talking to me, but I went to check one more time. She was sitting in the passenger seat on the phone with the window rolled up. I stooped down to see if she would talk to me, but she turned her back and crawled into her back seat. I told the operator that she wouldn't talk to me, but I later found out that her windows and doors were stuck and she had to crawl out through her back doors. (Yet another example of why you shouldn't assume people are stuck up just because they don't talk to you.)

When I got off of the phone with the police, the other lady finally appeared out of her car. I never got her name. But we compared injuries. She was attacked pretty badly by her airbag and already had bruises on her arms and knees. I was still holding the goose egg on my noggin. I kept looking at her car and thinking about the predicament she was in. The car was clearly totaled. I didn't even really inspect mine until toward the end, but I knew hers was toast.

SOAPBOX RANT: One time I was a first responder at the scene of a highway accident in the middle of a storm. This girl hydroplaned and rolled her new SUV. I didn't see it happen, but her vehicle came to a rest on it's side and some guys were pulling her out the top through her rear window. They handed her over to me and I tried asking if there were more people (maybe children!) in the vehicle. She was all shaken up and she turned around and started crying, "My car! My car!" And it's been something that really bugs me, how when in an accident, people are always so concerned about the fate of their vehicle. PEOPLE, THATS WHY YOU HAVE INSURANCE! BE HAPPY YOU'RE ALIVE!

So, I kept noticing all the damage to this lady's car and I just kept thinking that she's probably just like the rest of America and doesn't have an emergency fund and can't afford a new vehicle even if the insurance does total hers. I felt so bad for her. I felt bad because I didn't even know if I had legitimately caused the accident and caused this on her. She was very gracious the whole time though.

So, Walter arrived right before a police officer. The officer asked me first for a statement and I started to explain, "I was pulling out from over there to make a left hand turn..." and he interrupted me. "You pulled out from there to make a left hand turn?" he asked. "Yes," I confirmed. And he wrote me a ticket for "Failure to Yield at a Stop Sign". I tried to rebute that I did in fact stop at the stop sign because I know I was sitting there for a while before there was a break in traffic. He didn't seem receptive, so I didn't argue, but he said it wasn't failure to stop at the sign; it was failure to yeild. So, he called a couple wreckers to come get our cars and we all stood out there waiting.

At some point, the other lady's husband arrived and he and Walter dealt with the respective insurance agencies while we waited. So, let me put in a plug for USAA because the other guy's office wasn't even open yet. We had our claim filed and done before the tow truck even arrived.

I asked Walter help me identify stuff in my car that I needed to get out. I knew I had to grab the kids carseats and my purse, but I became less clear-headed as the adrenaline started to wear through me. The officer reminded me to grab anything with my home address on it in case the vehicle is burglarized while in the shop. Glad he said that because I wouldn't have thought of it! Wish he had reminded me to grab my garage door opener.

So, the tow trucks arrived and totally blocked all traffic on the street. People couldn't get through to drop their kids off and where really huffy as they tried to navigate through the mess. Sorry for inconvienencing you with our little accident. When the vehicles were up on the trucks, the drivers came with brooms and buckets and shoveled up the broken glass and car parts strewn across the road, got in their trucks, and drove off. We shook hands with the other folks and the officer and drove home.

Oh oh oh! I have to tell you about this part! So, we were all standing there waiting for the tow trucks to arrive and this random lady drives up, parks behind the police car, and come walking up the hill. She hands Walter a Venti-something-or-other from Starbucks. She says to him, "I saw you were in an accident, so I brought you your coffee." He exclaimed, "Thanks!" and she turned back, got in her car and drove away. It was the most random bizarre thing. The other couple was like, "Is that his secretary?" and I told them no. Walter and I laughed and laughed that they thought he was some big shot executive or something. But he told me later that it's the lady who works at the Starbucks down our street. Her kids go to the same school as ours and she recognized Walter as she dropped her kids off.

I really wish I knew where that other vehicle came from because when I made the decision to go, I DID NOT see any oncoming traffic. Was she coming down the road, but my view of her blocked by the truck that was turning in? Or maybe... she was driving right behind that truck and got impatient as he was slowing down and zipped out from behind him. That would explain why she was so curteous toward me. Walter and I both agreed that we'd be livid, if in her shoes and someone pulled out of a side-street like that. And the points of impact where an odd angle. Lots of little things really made me believe that she had zipped out from behind the truck pulling in, but I just couldn't be positive because I really never saw her.

Well, the insurance rep called a few days later and took my account of what happened. When I finished, he said, "Okay, Mrs. Storm, I've turned off the recording. Your description of what happened matches the police report. You were making a left-hand turn and the other vehicle was behind a white truck..."
I interrupted, "Wait. So, she said she was driving behind the white truck?"
"Yes, ma'am," he replied.
"Like, right behind him? She was the car right behind the truck?"
"Yes, ma'am."

I KNEW IT!! I knew she had to have come out from behind that truck because I surely wouldn't just pull right out into oncoming traffic! Surely I wouldn't be so grossly negligent!

With that information, I decided to contest the traffic citation. The quote on my car came back and the damage is greater than initially thought, so they're going to total it. We sent them the title and we're waiting on a check in the mail. I haven't heard from the other lady, but our insurance covered her car and medical bills already. And with the only detail left being the acquisition of a new vehicle for me, I can say I survived my first car crash.

Click for "Demise of the Escape, Part 2"