Saturday, February 23, 2008

Pluses and minuses

The major, biggest plus, is that I am ok and airbags did not deploy.

A minus, as you have by now deduced, is that I was in an accident. Going home from work early to try to avoid bad driving conditions. Yeah.

A plus, again, is that the car was drivable, and got home on its own power.

A minus is that this is JD's car. My car would've totally stopped. This one skidded. Straight under the tail end of a landscape/plow truck. That for some reason wasn't moving after stopping at a completely empty rotary. I was a good distance back, started applying brakes in plenty of time, but skidded.

A plus, definitely, is that I had the presence of mind to use the training I got once in a course on driving to save your life (half a day, free as a bonus for getting my car that particular month, totally one of the best spent half days ever) to turn the car enough that the part stuck under the tail end of that truck was the passenger side, almost the very edge of it. Hence, no airbag deployment. Yeah, I am happy about it, particularly since I am short and sit very close to the wheel.

A minus is that I didn't think to honk while I was turning. If I did, maybe he would've moved just enough to avoid the collision. As is, there was a small island in the middle of the road, so I couldn't turn enough to avoid him completely.

No idea on whether this is a plus or a minus. The reason I had JD's car at all is that he took my very safe Volvo to go skiing with Monkey on her school vacation. They left Wednesday, won't be back until Sunday. I didn't tell him because there is nothing he can do from there, and all it would do is leave him worried about it when he should be enjoying what probably is the last ski trip of the season and his extremely technically competent skiing daughter.

I called in the insurance claim. Unfortunately, I can't see an adjuster until Tuesday, and who knows how long the repairs will be after that. It seems the damage is only on the body, so the day they can get the parts in should be the day we get the car back. I also called a friend who is a car wizard hoping he could come out and help me decide whether the car needed to be covered up or what. But he had knee surgery this week and is, therefor, immobile. Not to worry, I am ingenious-- took some pictures of the damage and some pictures of how I covered it up and sent to him for inspection. Got back a gold star and a suggestion to come out and brush all the snow off the front when it stops snowing just to make sure that melting snow doesn't seep in where it shouldn't go. So I stayed up clearing out my reader and waiting for the snow to stop. Went out at 1:30am and cleared it all off. With a house broom. It was kinda fun, but it looks like we got at least a foot of snow today, so there may be some not fun times in our future on clearing off the driveway into the garage. And no, I couldn't just put the damaged car into the garage today-- the driveway slopes down, making parking that car in the garage nontrivial, even under the best weather conditions. When there is snow, the car is always always parked outside.

Ok, off to bed now. I am sleeping in in the morning. It's not like I could go anywhere even if I really wanted to this weekend. My car and its lovely occupants don't come back until Sunday night.

32 comments:

Coggy said...

I'm glad you're OK Julia that must have been a bit scary. I haven't been involved in an accident yet (knock all available wooden surfaces) and I often wonder if I would have the presence of mind to apply the training I got. I'm glad you did.

It must have been quite an interesting sight to anybody awake at 1:30am. Enjoy your lie in x

Beruriah said...

Oh Julia! Thank goodness you're ok and no air bags deployed. I hope you will sleep in, very late, this morning.

niobe said...

Phew.... I'm very,, very glad to hear that you're okay.

I think I'm more scared of the air bags deploying than I am of an actual accident, so I'm also glad to hear that your air bags didn't inflate.

Great presence of mind to use your accident training.

Magpie said...

Oh, hon - glad you're okay.

c. said...

That would have been very scary. I have had 3 accidents (a very long time ago, knock on wood, 2 were in snowy/ice conditions. I am not one of those who remain calm in these conditions. I am impressed you were able to maintain a level head and even remember what you were taught in the driving course. I am also very relieved you are okay.

Meghan said...

So glad you're ok. Glad you've got some good driving skills

Tash said...

Crap, how scary. I hope you mean airbags in the literal and figurative sense, because I'm still a bit shaky here. Not for nothing, I have v. safe 4WD car, and in the worst of conditions, it has entered a skid too. Always good to know what to do in those cases. On the couch, feet up this weekend, PLEASE!

meg said...

So glad you are o.k. Julia. I would have been terrified. I also took that half day course and I hope it will kick in, if I ever get in an accident.

Hope you had a good sleep in.

EmmaL said...

I am so glad you are okay! I wish I had taken a course like that - it sounds useful. I always wonder if in the middle of something I'll be able to think clearly enough and act quickly enough. I am so glad you did!

Catherine said...

Yikes...good thinking on your part turning to avoid the head-on impact. I'm glad you're ok and I hope the insurance process isn't difficult.

Anonymous said...

Thank god you are ok! I have been hit with an airbag once, and it wasn't fun. It left burn marks all over my arms and chest. I am glad to hear that you are safe. Take it easy until the roads are cleared.

Lollipop Goldstein said...

So scary--car accidents freak me out beyond belief. And I'm just thankful you're okay.

Aurelia said...

Oh lord, like Niobe I am more afraid of airbags than of any accident. Thank god they didn't deploy. I'm feeling sick as I type this, thinking about the potential for something happening.

Can you just cover up the car with some plastic for now? I hate to think of you staying up late nights for something easy like snow clearing.

k@lakly said...

I saw a friend, BIG 6 foot 4 inch, MALE friend, who was hit by his air bag and he looked like he had gone 9 rounds with a heavy weight...two huge black eyes, broken nose, bloody lip it was pretty bad. I am so glad that is not you!
I agree with the plastic idea...all you need now is to slip and knock youself out on some frozen concrete with no one around to rescue you. No car is worth that! Bundle up, have a cocktail and leavve the car for hubby when he gets back!

Bon said...

i am really, really glad you're okay.

and airbags, yeh. not so good for pregnant women, huh?

kate said...

Gracious i am so glad you are okay!

Julia said...

Thanks, all.

Niobe, me too. Hence I was so glad I managed to avoid that.

Tash, this is why I also put winter tires on my 4WD (which also has the dynamic stabilization control thingie and isn't supposed to need winter tires), and is why JD took it for the ski trip.

LAS, the course is very useful. If you want to, email me and I'll let you know where I took it. They may have someone they can recommend by you, or you can take it next time you are out this way.

Reality, damn. I am sorry. And you know how short I am, so I am very afraid of it happening, esp in that car, where the seat doesn't regulate to allow me to sit comfortably away from the wheel. Something tells me even after this car is fixed, I will do my best to avoid driving it for a while, at least in the snow.

Aurelia and Kalakly, that's what I did when I came home-- got a couple of garbage compactor bags, thick ones, to cover the areas where parts of the hood came up or away from where they should be, and a few small bags to stick in the openings I wasn't comfortable with. Took pictures of that after I took pictures of the damage and sent all to my friend. He said I did a thorough job, but was worried about melting snow getting underneath later. That's why I stayed up and brushed it off. In the morning it looked like there was a bit of a thaw, so I was glad I did that.

S said...

oh goodness, i am so glad you're ok.

Wabi said...

Also sighing in relief that you are safe. Good job at minimizing the impact!

christina(apronstrings) said...

ohnoohnoohno.
how freakin' scary. aaaacccckkk. and you were home alone! i hope a good girlfriend came over with cheese and crackers.
sheesh, how perfect that you had that training. though, how awful, that you were forced to use it.
a big hug from me, i'm glad my friend and little one are ok.

Serenity said...

Thank goodness you're ok - I'm so sorry I didn't see this earlier - I'd have come over to see you. :(

k@lakly said...

Oh and duh....no cocktails for you. You can see where my brain is. Maybe a nice warm cup of decaf tea...?? Hope you feel better!

CLC said...

So glad that you are ok. How scary that must have been. I have never even thought about airbags not being safe. I guess you do learn something new every day.

Tash said...

Hope you're feeling a bit more grounded and less freaked out today (although you didn't sound remotely freaked out in your post, and damn, I woulda been.)

I've tagged you with a mindless meme for the weekend feet-up time. Enjoy.

Amelie said...

oh my, I'm so glad to hear you are okay!

Snickollet said...

I'm late to the chorus (as usual), but very, very glad that you are OK. Hope you had a nice sleep-in and that all goes well with the adjustor.

thrice said...

I, too, am so glad that you are okay. So your description made me imagine you as some sort of a female-version-James-Bond-driver-type. LOL.

How are you feeling now? Do you have whiplash?

wannabe mom said...

i am so glad you're ok. how scary. i hope that the insurance is not a hassle.

Lori said...

I am SO glad to hear you are okay!!

Rosepetal said...

I am also glad you are okay Julia. I read this post before but didn't have time to comment - I hope you're over the inevitable shock and the adjustor meeting went okay.

Unknown said...

Julia, so scary but I'm so happy you were not hurt! You are amazing for even having the presence of mind to turn as you did. Whew!

Lides said...

s-c-a-r-y Hoping you are okay, with no residual whip lash and such.