Car Crash

09-18-07_2105

Do you ever have on of those nights where everyone wants to go somewhere to dinner that you don’t want to go? I had one of those nights tonight, pity I didn’t put up a struggle.

We were returning from dinner, traveling south down 7th street. We were stopped by the traffic light that enters the VA hospital. We’d been there for at least 30 seconds when… WHAM!!!!, the car was smacked on the left, rear side. I had just enough wherewithal to keep my foot on the brake as I saw the vehicle that hit us careen off us and smack another car before coming to a rest at the other side of the intersection.

Both my kids, my wife and a friend were in the car. I wasn’t injured so my first response was to make sure everyone was alright and got out of the car. Everyone was alright, but James’ door (behind mine) was jammed shut. I got out and called 911.

As I got out, someone approached us and asked if the accident had just happened. He had been at the intersection a half mile north, and the same car that struck us had run the red light at 70+ miles an hour just moments before. I had the impression that he was really moving when he shot past, but really was in no position to be making objective observations.

Something that didn’t quite register in my brain: His car seemed to be in a different place than when I thought it stopped. The answer came soon enough, he’d tried to get away, but his right front wheel had been turned 90 degrees into the wheel well and he couldn’t move. he tried to escape on foot, but the police apprehended him.

He claimed that his brakes failed, but I’m sure that’s a lie. He ran a red light at high speed half a mile away, if that was because of his so-called brake problem, he should have coasted to a much slower speed, stopped or diverted himself into one of the empty parking lots or side streets before he reached us. It was clearly complete bullshit.

As for my car, I’m no expert, but I suspect it’s a total loss. The wheels on the left are completely shredded, and it seems like it is all bent out of shape. Frame damage is likely and it wouldn’t surprise me if the axles are damaged also.

Emergency services responded and looked us over a bit, particularly the kids, then gave them stuffed animals. That was quite nice of them and I think it made the standing around and waiting a lot more bearable for them.

After paperwork, the tow truck came to haul our wreck off to the impound yard, and we were left to get home somehow. They offered to call us a cab, but since were were only a short distance from home, we took the bus.

Kudos to the bus people. We all had exact change for the bus ride, but only in the form of dollar bills and quarters. As we got on the bus, the dollar bill collector was broken, so they let us ride for free. That surprised me, but it’s the right thing to do. It’s not right to strand people who rely on the bus just because the bus is broken down.

I’m sure I’ll have more on this later.


Update 9/19/2007: The whole incident keeps running through my head, and what my initial thoughts were just don’t seem to fit. I was completely stopped at a red light. My impression was that the light was just about to turn green, but hadn’t turned green yet.

That means that, either the black car should not have been in motion, as was my impression based on what I saw after the impact, or he was carried across the intersection by the impact.

The impact on my car was near the rear, on the left side. The impact on the black car was along the right side. I’m beginning to think this numbnuts who was driving was actually trying to squeeze between our two stopped cars in adjacent lanes.

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