Crash!

Sorry I don't have any pictures to share but I will tell you all about the crash. We are not talking a mess in the kitchen or some home fix-it project gone bad. We are talking about a car crash with me and the girls and our car that had to be towed.

Yesterday morning we went into Ballard to the gym, then to the park since the weather was decent. We headed towards home around 11:15 so we could have lunch. I was heading east on 80th. A white car was heading west on 80th. 80th is a 2-lane road with a dividing line but there was no stop sign or light at this point. So I am not sure what motivated the driver of the car to turn when he did, but he made a left onto a side street, or more accurately he made a left into the front driver-side of my car. The impact and noise made it clear that this was no little fender-bender. We both pulled over onto the side street (Dibble).

When I attempted to get out of the car I realized some of the extent of the damage, since my door would not open. I put the window down at first to talk briefly to a witness and the other driver. But I was frazzled and really worried about the girls. The girls did great through this whole ordeal. They were a little scared and nervous after the crash but not crying or fussing. Addie was more aware of the potential danger and wanted to be out of the car. Etta wanted to stay in the car because it was warmer than outside. I searched around in the glovebox, found my insurance info and started to write things down. When I climbed over to the passenger seat to get out I was able to see how bad my car was smashed up. The hood was dented up. The headlight was missing and the front drivers side totally smashed in. I am not sure if the alignment got screwed up, but things above the front drivers tire were so bent out of whack that they were hanging down and scraping against the tire. I briefly considered trying to drive it home since I was only like 10 blocks from home and it would be simpler to get towed from home because then the girls & I would already be safely there. But I did not trust that it would be safe to drive.His car was scraped-up on the front bumper and there was a hissing sound come from under his hood. But nothing visibly broken or dented.

The driver of the other car was concerned and apologetic. He was a young guy who just graduated from college. He was driving to a relatives house right on the corner of 80th & Dibble. (So they heard the crash and realized what happened and said "Oh Jakey!") After I made all my calls to Matt and insurance and the tow truck and the repair shop, I went over to his car to give him a little update. He invited us into his relatives house there on the corner. So we went in so the girls could use the potty. Then they saw a fishtank so "Jakey's" aunt showed the girls the fish. Then an uncle gave the girls little packages of goldfish crackers and pulled two little kid chairs in front of the tv that they had turned to cartoons for the girls. So I sat for a minute and the 91 year old grandma told me about a birthday party they had for her last night. The tow truck came and an uncle came out with me and helped me move the car seats to his car while the girls stayed inside with their snacks. The car got towed away and an aunt drove us home while telling stories of how her husband grew up in this neighborhood. I apologized for our muddy shoes in their sparking clean Lexus SUV and she brushed off the apology and made it clear they were happy to help and not concerned about the car. She complimented me more than once on how sweet the girls were. (I guess Addie said something about how her shoes were dirty/sandy from playing at the park and she should not have them on in the house). They were so incredibly kind and thoughtful. They are one of the things I am so grateful for.

There are so many things I am incredibly grateful for in all of this. I am grateful that it was not raining. I am grateful that none of us were hurt (I woke up with a really stiff, soar neck this morning that is most likely due to it. And Addie has some slight red marks from the carseat straps rubbing into her shoulders. But that is all I am aware of and it is so minor.) I am grateful that a witness wrote down her info on a piece of paper. (Our insurance already talked to her and she corroborated my telling of events so according to them liability is the other drivers).

You know what never crossed my mind in all of this? Calling the police! Maybe it would have been good because then they could have looked at the scene. But someone went out with a broom right away to clear all the broken headlight parts of the street, and we were able to pull to the side street so we were not blocking anything. So although it may have been a wise thing to do, it also would have been one more phone call and person to wait for. I just wanted to get the girls safely home and have Matt help me deal with all the details.

I had to put in numerous calls to our insurance and get transferred around and put on hold. But after talking to the witness they agree that liability is the other drivers. I called his insurance to see where things were at and realized he never made a claim. Which is really surprising to me since he was on the phone a lot during all this. I assumed he called. So I had to start from scratch with his insurance and did not get very far since it was a Friday evening. But all things considered, it would be better to go through his insurance for the repairs so that we do not have to pay our deductible. But first his insurance needs to get his story and talk to the witness and determine liability. So our insurance is farther along in the process but nothing is happening over the weekend with either.

So the car got towed to the shop. Matt took the bus from work and went to the shop and figured out a rental car for us. Except it is not really figured out because our coverage does not include rental cars (mental note, might be a good time to re-evaluate our insurance coverage). So I guess we are hoping that the other insurance will cover it. Because the estimate is $8,000+ for repairs. So the repairs needed are extensive and rental car costs will add up in the mean-time. Matt says that is about equal to the blue book value of the car. We were about one month away from buying a mini-van. Although we really liked our little car and we saw the benefit of having two cars once we have 3 kids, at this point we would not mind if the car could just be considered totaled and we could take the money and use it towards a van. I don't know the likelihood of that. Our insurance put a call into the shop since they had not seen the estimate yet. But that was like 5pm on Friday. And of course we are not expecting much to happen over the weekend. So we are on hold. Should we be van shopping this weekend so we do not need to keep this rental for long?

I keep trying to replay it in my head and think if there was something I could have done differently. What if I had slammed on my breaks sooner? There was a van about 2 car lengths behind me, would it have slammed into me if I did that? What if I veered to the right when I realized what was happening? Would that just have made the impact on the side of the car instead of the front and potentially harmed Etta or I? I was aware that the white car was slowing down or stopped, so I assumed he wanted to make a turn.  I had the right-of-way so had no reason to stop, but should I have realized that not only did he want to turn but he was not waiting? I can not even remember all the details and all my actions. Was his blinker on? Did I break? So much of driving is anticipating what the other cars are doing and being aware of everything going on. I was not distracted while driving this stretch of road. Not texting, or giving a snack to the girls or fiddling with the music. There are times when I realize I am not giving my full attention to the road, or when I know there is a hill that cars come up and it can be hard to see them until the last moment. This was not one of those times.

It sucks that it happened. But for all the driving so many of us do, it seems amazing that we do not get into accidents more.