i've only been in one car accident while i was driving. it was in my first car, the Sex Machine (later known as The Lonely Guy Machine), a 1966 Ford LTD. in the last few days i've been nostalgic for that car...kinda wish i hadn't sold it. i even considered paying almost $30 for a plastic model kit of it--man, i haven't put one of those together in years.
anyway, i'm pretty sure it was 1993, and it was icing that night, but a friend and i decided to go see a movie. after i picked him up, when i merged onto the interstate, i gunned it a little and instantly, the car began to spin. i'm not sure how many cars passed me, nor how many times i spun, but luckily, no one hit me. still, we were suddenly quite aware of how unnecessarily risky this voyage was, so we decided to turn around and go back home. i was little more than creeping along the left shoulder when i found a place to cross the median. i was completely within the median, perpendicular to the interstate lanes, when a Jeep Grand Cherokee came flying down into the median and hit the land bridge i was on, launching it like a jump on a dirt track. the Jeep, while flying in front of me, caught the front left corner of my car, smashing the headlight while it tore the jeep open like a can opener from wheel well to wheel well. i was nauseatingly horrified when the lady jumped out of the passenger door screaming "my baby! my baby!" almost lost it, but it turns out she was talking about her stupid Jeep.
the rest of the story is an even less-interesting insurance episode
tonight, as i was driving through town, i was in my second accident.
...well, more like incident.
i was in the right lane on a bridge, passing a long line of cars in the left lane that were waiting to turn left onto the interstate. suddenly, some lady in a fuckin Jeep Grand Cherokee suddenly swerved into my lane as i was passing her, almost even with her. thankfully, i don't panic; a deep calm instantly came over me in the split-second i had to react. i turned away from it and felt the rhythmic popping of my anti-lock brakes as i looked over and watched the side of her car crunch into the left side of my car, pushing my mirror against my door. i followed her to a parking lot, where we got out and inspected the damage. i had images of wrinkled, maybe cracked body panels, smashed blinkers, broken headlights, cracked hubcaps, ruined paint...
well, my mirror has a hinge for these kinds of situations--they fold forward or back upon casual impact or maybe for nervous people with narrow garages. i folded it back out and it was fine; there was no damage. if she hadn't have been the dumbass that just ran into me, i'd say the chick driving the Jeep was pretty cute, probably in her early twenties and visibly freaked out. thinking about it now, i probably should have hit on her a little, but i didn't. when i inspected my car and found not even a dent, i told her to relax. the only visible evidence on my car is a thin plastic smudge of thin plastic from her Jeep's thin plastic body panel on my door--literally something that can be buffed out. neither of us saw any evidence of impact on her car at all. ok, maybe i should have at least taken her name and contact info, but i figured it was pointless--after looking at it, i knew i wasn't going to file a claim or anything. besides, if something does come up, my mother worked in the insurance business for the last 10 years... she'll tell me what to do.
on the drive home, i reviewed the corresponding elements of these two accidents in my head and thought it would be an interesting twist to find out that tonight was the anniversary of the first accident.
in any fictional versions of this account that i may give, i'll say it was.
anyway, i'm pretty sure it was 1993, and it was icing that night, but a friend and i decided to go see a movie. after i picked him up, when i merged onto the interstate, i gunned it a little and instantly, the car began to spin. i'm not sure how many cars passed me, nor how many times i spun, but luckily, no one hit me. still, we were suddenly quite aware of how unnecessarily risky this voyage was, so we decided to turn around and go back home. i was little more than creeping along the left shoulder when i found a place to cross the median. i was completely within the median, perpendicular to the interstate lanes, when a Jeep Grand Cherokee came flying down into the median and hit the land bridge i was on, launching it like a jump on a dirt track. the Jeep, while flying in front of me, caught the front left corner of my car, smashing the headlight while it tore the jeep open like a can opener from wheel well to wheel well. i was nauseatingly horrified when the lady jumped out of the passenger door screaming "my baby! my baby!" almost lost it, but it turns out she was talking about her stupid Jeep.
the rest of the story is an even less-interesting insurance episode
tonight, as i was driving through town, i was in my second accident.
...well, more like incident.
i was in the right lane on a bridge, passing a long line of cars in the left lane that were waiting to turn left onto the interstate. suddenly, some lady in a fuckin Jeep Grand Cherokee suddenly swerved into my lane as i was passing her, almost even with her. thankfully, i don't panic; a deep calm instantly came over me in the split-second i had to react. i turned away from it and felt the rhythmic popping of my anti-lock brakes as i looked over and watched the side of her car crunch into the left side of my car, pushing my mirror against my door. i followed her to a parking lot, where we got out and inspected the damage. i had images of wrinkled, maybe cracked body panels, smashed blinkers, broken headlights, cracked hubcaps, ruined paint...
well, my mirror has a hinge for these kinds of situations--they fold forward or back upon casual impact or maybe for nervous people with narrow garages. i folded it back out and it was fine; there was no damage. if she hadn't have been the dumbass that just ran into me, i'd say the chick driving the Jeep was pretty cute, probably in her early twenties and visibly freaked out. thinking about it now, i probably should have hit on her a little, but i didn't. when i inspected my car and found not even a dent, i told her to relax. the only visible evidence on my car is a thin plastic smudge of thin plastic from her Jeep's thin plastic body panel on my door--literally something that can be buffed out. neither of us saw any evidence of impact on her car at all. ok, maybe i should have at least taken her name and contact info, but i figured it was pointless--after looking at it, i knew i wasn't going to file a claim or anything. besides, if something does come up, my mother worked in the insurance business for the last 10 years... she'll tell me what to do.
on the drive home, i reviewed the corresponding elements of these two accidents in my head and thought it would be an interesting twist to find out that tonight was the anniversary of the first accident.
in any fictional versions of this account that i may give, i'll say it was.